L.A. Top Ten Songs: Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) (#2)
By Four Walls
@FourWalls (89878)
United States
October 30, 2026 9:28am CST
A quick note: there will be no month-long countdown in November. The main reason is my hand. I go back to the doctor in mid November, and there will probably be a lot of physical therapy after that. That means pain. Also, on a personal level, I have a friend whose wife is in hospice. So next month might be too busy to keep a daily tally going. But you still get today’s song about Los Angeles. I hope people who remember lyrics were waiting for this one.
#2: Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels) - Jim Croce
You know something about this song? It gets better every time I hear it. The pain, the anger, the disbelief, and the resignation all hit in this very short song.
Jim Croce was a great songwriter. It’s too bad that we didn’t know that as much during his lifetime as we’ve discovered it in the 50+ years since he died. But wow, what a song.
Operator (That’s Not the Way It Feels}
Written by Jim Croce
Recorded by Jim Croce
From You Don’t Mess Around With Jim, 1972
L.A. LYRICS:
She’s living in L.A. with my best old ex-friend Ray
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10 people like this
10 responses
@teamfreak16 (48639)
• Denver, Colorado
7h
I always did love that "My best old ex-friend Ray" lyric.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (89878)
• United States
7h
“She sometimes hated”… just not that much.
1 person likes this
@teamfreak16 (48639)
• Denver, Colorado
7h
@FourWalls - Yeah, apparently not. Don't waste your dime, Jim.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (89878)
• United States
11h
That last line, “You can keep the dime,” is a gut punch. You can take it a lot of different ways.
1 person likes this
@rebelann (118969)
• El Paso, Texas
10h
Yeah, I think that's what got the tears rolling @FourWalls
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (89878)
• United States
39m
All because he was a man of his word. That last show was rescheduled from earlier when he’d been sick. He got popular in the meantime and easily could have moved to a bigger venue, but he honored his commitment to play that college.
@RasmaSandra (101916)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
4h
Always loved Jimmy another singer who could tell good stories ins ong,
1 person likes this
@JohnRoberts (108600)
• Los Angeles, California
10h
How much more could he have done if not for the fatal crash at 30. He would have been inducted into the R&R HOF and lifetime Grammy and Kennedy Center as he would have continued producing successful songs and building the loyal following that James Taylor enjoys. You don't mess around with Jim or that bad bad Leroy Brown.
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (89878)
• United States
7h
A little trivia for you: Terry Cashman, who did the “Talkin’ Baseball” song, and Tommy West produced Croce‘s albums. They were part of a one-hit wonder in the late 60s called the Buchanan Brothers, who had the hit “Medicine Man.“
I only wish my words could just convince myself...