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| “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I’ve always assumed “my service will explain” means “my answering service will explain that I’m not going to be calling you back - maybe ever” But I realize I never have used such a “service” of the era Is that how others interpret the lyric? This has probably been asked before but still I’m curious |
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| What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I have a general idea, but I don't know that I understand the full uses of a service, based upon what's been written below. How did they work? What did people use them for? Was it a place where people would swap messages or send messages to each other specifically? What level of information would you leave with your service? What sort of messages would you get? Was it like a mid-century group chat? | |
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| Did you ever call a doctor after hours? | |
| Posted by: seeseveryshow 05:01 pm EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| When you call a doctor after hours, usually you get the answering service, a live person who will take your message and convey it, if need be, to the doctor. | |
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| Wow! Do I feel old | |
| Posted by: SamIAm 02:17 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Back in the days of the rotary phone, to be followed by the princess phone...back in the days where we had no remote for our TV. Back in the day...once there was a 'service' | |
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| Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Linked Times article from September 2016 about The Belles Receptionists & Answering Service. Sondheim is still among their clients, or at least he was at the time the article appeared. In case this wasn't clear from the responses below — and this relates back to the OP's post — the better (or more expensive) answering services would convey messages to callers. While most people probably primarily used answering services so that people could leave messages for them, which they would call in to receive, some services were willing to take messages from clients and pass them on to people who called for that client, including probably very specific messages for specific people. So that (I presume) someone who wasn't a client could call the service and say something like, "This is Rhoda Morgenstern. Did Mary Richards leave a message for me?" |
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| Link | Celebrity Answering Service Endures |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: Singapore/Fling 12:19 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
| In reply to: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
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| Thanks for the link! And thanks to everyone who replied... I need to hunt down a copy of "Bells Are Ringing". | |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Last Edit: RelaxnNYC 11:12 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| Posted by: RelaxnNYC 11:09 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - Singapore/Fling 12:19 pm EST 12/17/17 | |
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| For another glimpse into life before cell phones - I was an actor in NYC starting in the late 80s. Cell phones didn't exist, at least not for "regular" people. Up until then everyone in "the biz" had a "service number." You actually listed it on your resume instead of a home/cell phone number because even answering machines weren't very prolific and you didn't want to leave your home phone number laying around all over town anyway. It was basically like how voicemail on your cell phone works now. You recorded a message that could be changed/updated however you wanted, but it wasn't connected to your home phone number. Since you'd be out all day at auditions or work, you'd have to call from a ... wait for it ... pay phone on the street (!!!) to check your messages to see if you had a gotten a callback or if your agent had gotten you an audition. We used it sort of how people use texts now. If the person you were meeting for dinner was already 15 minutes late, you'd find the nearest pay phone (every restaurant and corner had one) and check your service to see if they had left a message. Likewise, if you were running late, you'd call your friend's service to let them know and hoped that they would check it. I always carried a pocket full of change just to check my service when I was out and about. I also toured in the early 90s (bus-and-truck) and NO ONE had a cell or a lap top. We'd read (actual books LOL - usually a library was kept under the bus so you could swap books), listen to music, watch movies on the VCR (we'd vote as a group if we would watch something and on what we would watch). When we'd have a lunch stop at a mall or downtown area, everyone would line up at the pay phones to check their service. And yes, I find that the cell phone/texting age has made people much less committed to keeping appointments and showing up on time for social occasions (and even professional ones) because they can just text you in real time with an excuse. When it took some effort and a third party to excuse your lateness, you tried very hard not to be late. |
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| re: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain | |
| Posted by: garyd 10:40 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: Look, I'll call you in the morning or this Times piece will explain - AlanScott 06:13 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
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| We still have an answering service though we don't use it much. This whole thread answers a lot of questions about the site. Guess I don't belong here. | |
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| re: What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: MarjorieMae 11:43 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Hasn't anyone seen Bells Are Ringing? | |
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| re: What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: davei2000 10:46 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| They still exist - for businesses that never want to leave a call unanswered, but can't afford employees 24 hours a day. Even at the time I believe it was mainly a tool of professional businesspeople - and actors, awaiting calls for auditions. And gamblers, of course. (See Bells Are Ringing!) |
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| Link | https://www.callruby.com/services/services-features/ |
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| re: What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: BruceinIthaca 04:19 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: re: What actually was a service? - davei2000 10:46 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Also, doctors--and they still use them, as the service can sometimes make a judgment call about whether contacting the physician after hours is urgent or whether simply to refer the caller to whichever other doctor is "on call." | |
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| re: What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: bobby2 10:15 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: What actually was a service? - Singapore/Fling 09:54 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| You need to watch the movie of Bells are Ringing. It is about an answering service operator. This was back before answering machines. The services would answer your phone calls and take messages for you. (one thing I never understood was if you had a special phone number you gave out that only the service would answer or if even back then there was a call forwarding type feature where they could intercept your home phone calls.) | |
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| re: What actually was a service? | |
| Posted by: Thom915 11:01 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: What actually was a service? - bobby2 10:15 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| When I first started we actually answered the phone numbers of people during certain times or after a certain number of rings. I do not know exactly how this was accomplished but it was limited to the people being in a certain geographic area. These were for special clients, doctors lawyers, producers, the occasional star, etc. Most of our clients however had a general number that we would answer and then hold the message for them to call in or in some cases we would contact them (extra fee) at a number they gave us. shortly after I moved to the second answering company, call forwarding was introduced and except for one or two clients, all of our clients used that in addition to a general number they could give out if they did not wish to give out their personal number. By the time I moved to the third service, everything was on call forwarding. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: AlanScott 07:16 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I've never thought that particular quotation within the lyric was meant to indicate that the speaker may never be calling back the other person. More like, "I'd really like to get together but I'm so busy that I may not be able to do it. I may be so busy that I won't even be able to call you tomorrow, but if you call my service, they will have a message for you or a general message for everyone who calls." It needs to be heard in context with the lines that precede it: Will you pick me up or do I meet you there or shall we let it go? Did you get my message, 'cause I looked in vain? Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain? Doesn't sound to me like a blow-off, although I suppose you could take each of the lines a stand-alone thought not related to the others. I certainly don't think, as one person who responded below seems to think, that this reflects any sort of conversation between Marta and Robert, nor that it reflects any sort of conversation between Marta and anyone. And I don't think there is any laziness implied. Just the opposite. Extreme busyness. All the distractions and stresses of modern urban life that make it difficult to sustain relationships. |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:56 pm EST 12/16/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - AlanScott 07:16 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| "All the distractions and stresses of modern urban life that make it difficult to sustain relationships." I've always thought that's what the song in general and the line about the service in particular are about. Pretty straightforward, and I think that's an interesting enough point for the song without needing to read into it another meaning about blowing off someone. |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:16 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I must say I've never taken it the way you say, or heard of that interpretation. I'm not sure what leads you to that in the lyrics or tone -- I'm assuming you took "look i'll call you in the morning" to be it's own new thought and for it to paint a picture of a one night stand? But to me that lyric is connected to the scene described of trying to meet someone and missing them, "Did you get my message? 'Cause I looked in vain. "Can we see each other Tuesday if it doesn't rain? Look I'll call you in the morning or my service will explain." But I do see how I could be wrong and maybe they are all meant as isolated messaged unrelated to the others, attempting to be associated with a unique situation. Either way I always wished Sondheim would write a new, more evergreen lyric that isn't so specific to the period, and not only to the period but to an audience who knows what that means in context of the period. Most people born after 1970 wouldn't even know what it refers to. I know I had to guess. But I'd love a new lyric or the option to put one in at least if you're not doing a period production. So many productions, including Broadway and West End revivals, have set it in current day, and then that lyric stands out as bizarre and unfit -- along with a few others. |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: AnObserver 04:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| It's not meant to be literalized. It's merely an impressionistic snatch of a conversation that could take place in a large, busy, depersonalizing city. | |
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| Simple answer, yes. Nmi | |
| Posted by: jeffef 04:26 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Nmi | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Last Edit: davei2000 03:01 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| Posted by: davei2000 02:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - wizrdofoz27 02:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I've always thought the "Look..." indicates the speaker is harried, and maybe a touch indifferent, rather than hostile. The "service will explain" that I'm not at home, and thus not near my phone, because I've been called away - an audition, a business trip. It's certainly possible that it's a lie. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 06:17 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - davei2000 02:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I've never thought of it as a lie, more of a comment on the lazy disconnected modern society who scurries around without regard for obligation or planning and lets it be enough for a machine or an operator to explain to the person they had plans with why they couldn't get there or answer the phone. To me the emphasis is on the lack of personal responsibility and connection. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Last Edit: davei2000 07:51 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| Posted by: davei2000 07:49 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chazwaza 06:17 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I don't think it's a lie either, just trying not to completely rule out what the OP was saying, but the lazy or irresponsible thing would be not to do anything. This promise to give a message through the service, because you won't be near a phone, is kind of sad in its maybe doomed effort not to fall out of touch. I used to say the new line should be I'll call you in the morning if there's service on the train...(Or plane...Do people actually use onboard phones in flight? I know you can't use your own...) Maybe better would be, I'll call you in the morning or my intern will explain... |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 07:43 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 07:41 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chazwaza 06:17 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| As AlanScott alludes to above, I don't really think "lazy" is part of this. The opening vamp of the show (i.e. the vamp that begins the song "Company" - the rhythm of which continues throughout the entire song in various ways) is meant to be a musical imitation of a busy signal - and of course on the original recording this is made literally clear. When Marta asks Bobby what he thinks the pulse of the city is, he responds "a busy signal?" And, of course you have the busy, restless feeling of the accompaniment to "Another 100 People" to boot. Not lazy - busy. Too busy to even answer the phone call. Which is why the service is there to pick it up. ;-) |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Chazwaza 10:30 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chromolume 07:41 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Yes, agreed. I meant more emotionally lazy, lazy with regard to prioritizing the personal touch. But yes busy says it regardless. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: gcarl44 04:30 pm EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chazwaza 10:30 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Yes, in agreement with you both. I have been reading through this thread, and it seems like most folks are focusing in on an attitude Bobby may have about his one-nite-stands and commitment. People seem to have forgotten that the line is in the song "Another 100 People", which is about the increasingly impersonal nature of a huge, buzzing, busy metropolis and the difficulty of connecting with another person. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Last Edit: jeffef 04:23 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| Posted by: jeffef 04:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - davei2000 02:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| The way I see it, being from that era, it’s like saying these days, I’ll have my people call your people. It’s a bit of a deflection indicative of Bobby’s aversion to commitment. Today he would have said I’ll look for you on Facebook or text you in the morning. Here’s my instagram or whatever, still it’s a deflection. “Service” was replaced by voicemail, unless you a personal secretary or assistant (ha ha) and your outgoing message could say, “i’m sorry, I’m in Tahiti, please leave a message.” But we know you’re not in Tahiti. |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: garyd 01:21 am EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - jeffef 04:13 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| The song has little,specifically, to do with Bobby. it is a cultural reference. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Thom915 04:08 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - davei2000 02:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| Having worked for three different answering services when I first moved to New York back in the seventies, your answer comes the closest to the way an answering service would operate. The answering services very rarely made phone calls on behalf of the client though we would occasionally make telephone calls to the client at a number different than theirs. (Those would be logged and the client would be charged extra per call. Therefore it is conceivable Bobby could have the service call Marta and offer some excuse. More likely it was just that Bobby would leave a message for Marta that he was unavailable. (haha, no lie there) The message could have been left that if any woman called for him they were to be told he was unavailable or some such other excuse. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: gcarl44 04:32 pm EST 12/18/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Thom915 04:08 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| The line is not about Bobby, but rather the impersonal nature of a large, bustling metropolis and the ability to connect with people. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 04:50 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Thom915 04:08 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I agree with the general idea - but I'm not sure that there's meant to be any direct connection here (no pun intended) to Bobby in the lyric. I don't think the song is about HIM in any direct way - it's Marta's impressions of the crazy/busy life in Manhattan for sure, but it seems to me that the subject of this section of the song is the more general "they" she keeps mentioning ("they meet at parties" etc) rather than Bobby specifically. Bobby can and would certainly be one member of the "they," of course - but it's not just about him. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Thom915 09:33 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chromolume 04:50 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| You are quite correct. I don't know why I tried to equate that with Bobby. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: jeffef 05:04 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Chromolume 04:50 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I’m getting a kick out of these yunguns not understanding the concept of a service. See: Bells are Rining. How many times has someone said I’ll call and not really mean it. Ha ha | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: Ann 05:32 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - jeffef 05:04 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I'm old enough to understand answering services, but I don't think the lyric makes sense, if you think about it. I still love it, though. | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: bobby2 10:20 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - Ann 05:32 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I think it is just part of the fragmented frenzy of chatter the character perceives city life to be: "I'll meet you there, no I'll pick you up, no we'll let it go" | |
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| re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company | |
| Posted by: portenopete 03:18 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
| In reply to: re: “Look I’ll call you in the morning or my service will explain” from Company - davei2000 02:55 pm EST 12/15/17 | |
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| I've always thought that, rather than it being a hostile comment, it was delivered blithely and pleasantly and that it demonstrated the shallowness of the friendship that Marta is a part of.I doubt anyone would have deputized an answering service to end a friendship. (I don't know whether Susansaphone was a very honest depiction of answering service companies.) | |
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