. . . I called you up to say “Hello!”, 1915
words by Gene Buck
music by Louis A. Hirsch
A show tune from the Ziegfeld Follies. From the book Hit Songs by Don Tyler: “Hello, Frisco!” was a topical song that saluted the first transcontinental telephone service in the U.S. AT&T had been expanding telephone service out of New York City since the late 1880s… In the verse, the man is talking to the operator placing a call to San Francisco to a girl named Frisco, rather than the city, San Francisco.
The sheet music:
Accompaniment by James Pitt-Payne:
Lyrics
- Hello Central, hello Central, can’t you see
Kindly hurry, kindly hurry, just for me
Please do get me San Francisco
Someone’s waiting all alone
Frisco is her name, she’s at the Golden Gate
Central, it’s a shame for her to have to wait
Please, long distance, do connect me
Get her on the telephone
Refrain
Hello, Frisco, hello
Hello, Frisco, hello
Don’t keep me waiting, it’s aggravating
Why can’t you hurry, Central, you’re so slow
Hello, now can you hear
You know I love you, dear
Your voice is like music to my ear
When I close my eyes you seem so near
Frisco, I called you up to say “Hello”
Refrain
Hello, New York, hello
(How do you do my dear
I only wish that you were here)
Hello, New York, hello
(How is the fair out there
They tell me that it is a bear)
Yes, dear I hear you, wish I were near you
Oh central won’t you please get off the wire
(I can hear you now, I can hear you now)
Hello, dearie, hello
(Dearie I’ve bought the ring
And I’ve arranged for everything)
You know I love you so
(We’ll be together soon
And then we’ll have a honeymoon)
Your voice is like music to my ear
When I close my eyes you seem so near
New York, I’m glad you called to say “Hello”
Sung here by Fred Feild: