Jim Croce's "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)"

Earlier this week I listened to a compilation album of Jim Croce titled Photographs and Memories: His Greatest Hits.  I'd noticed before that there are some purposely absent lyrics in one of the verses of "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)," but thinking about that now I realized - to a greater degree - just how well it works in furthering the despondency of the song.

Here's the first verse:

Operator, oh, could you help me place this call
See, the number on the match book is old and faded
She's living in LA
With my best, old ex-friend Ray
Guy she said she knew well and sometimes hated

And the second verse:

Operator, oh, could you help me place this call
‘Cause I can’t read the number that you just gave me
There’s something in my eyes
You know it happens every time
I think about the love that I thought would save me

In the first two verses, the last line rhymes with the second line ("faded"/"hated" and "gave me"/"save me"), but in the third verse, the lyrics that would rhyme aren't there:

Operator, well let's forget about this call
There's no one there I really wanted to talk to
Thank you for your time
Oh, you've been so much more than kind
You can keep the dime [*absent lyrics*]

If you're just reading the lyrics, you might be struck with the fact that this last verse doesn't hold to the format instituted by the first and followed by the second (that is, that there's nothing to rhyme with "talk to") and then just keep reading.  But if you're listening to it, you're forced to confront the absence of those lyrics because there are a few seconds devoid of vocals.  Unlike reading, the recording of the song plays out in a fixed duration, which makes that absence blatantly obvious.  Additionally, the articulation of "you can keep the dime" is different from that of the other two verses' corresponding lines.

In typing out the lyrics, I've noticed another way in which this is a great omission.  The caller eventually decides that he doesn't want to complete his call, and that's reflected in the lyrics - there's no rhyme for "talk to."  His initiation of a conversation isn't completed, and neither are the lyrics pertaining to it.