Song of the Day: 'Sylvia's Mother' by Bobby Bare

Subject: Outdated telephone songs 

Here's a song that's far better than I remembered it from back in the day. But it hardly matters because the lyrics will confuse anyone under a certain age to no end. (Even more than 867-5309.)It's the Shel Silverstein song "Sylvia's Mother," sung by Bobby Bare, whose version -- in my opinion -- is better than Dr. Hook's. But I can just hear the questions: How come he's talking to Sylvia's mother; why doesn't he just call Sylvia? What's an operator? Why's he being charged 40 more cents; doesn't he have a monthly plan?