Lyric discussion by butterfingersbeck 

Cover art for Smooth Operator lyrics by Sade

Has to be said, the line "Coast to coast, LA to Chicago", while sounding sophisticated and cosmopolitan is actually meaningless. Chicago is in the American Midwest, thousands of miles from the nearest coast! Maybe the Smooth Operator got stranded at O'Hare airport en route to the East Coast. Who knows. Who cares...

My Interpretation

The lyric is more about rhyming than about geography

Not Valid

Not sure if I agree with you on this. The lyrics are coast to coast la to chicago. north to south, to key lago. To me this suggests the following routes where followed:

>

  • (East) Coast (unspecified, maybe NY) to (West) Coast (LA);
  • (West coast) LA to Chicago (Mid West, or "North" in the song)
  • "North" (Chicago) to South (Unspecified, maybe Dallas)
  • South to Key Lago (South East)
  • (East) Coast (unspecified, maybe NY) to (West) Coast (LA);
  • (West coast) LA to Chicago (Mid West, or "North" in the song)
  • "North" (Chicago) to South (Unspecified, maybe Dallas)
  • South to Key Lago (South East)
  • @butterfingersbeck Separate the words. Coast to coast, then he goes to Chicago. He travels the country selling his services.