“T’was a sweet sound so nice and clear
Heard all over, far and near
He couldn’t speak or sing that nice
Which is why he whistles by choice!”
I have always been able to whistle! Not the high decibel one in which you have to put fingers on your mouth but the more gentle kind with rhyme and rhythm!
But whistling was frowned upon while growing up so I used to do it only rarely or when alone! My mother used to tell that if you whistle, snakes will come! Strangely there was a time when getting whistled on was a compliment!
Intrigued?
Read on!
Some amazing songs start with a whistle and one of my favorite ones is a song called patience by the Guns and Roses (Now that was a band which broke too soon after some amazing songs to boot!).
Then of course if you are a rock song listener you would probably have Winds of change by the scorpions in your list of whistle song!
There are some bits and pieces in many other songs in many languages but these two really elevated the whistle to another level!
This is a big issue if you are in a band and you have to play these songs! Most of the times the whistle part in many open concerts are usually synthesized by the keyboard since in that noise it is difficult to whistle or the whistle to be audible to everyone!
Another familiar tune which is like a group whistle is the song from the amazing movie called The Bridge on the River Kwai. This whistle tune may be one of the best and most popular group whistle tunes ever.
When the whole platoon comes marching and whistling this amazing tune, you are simply amazed at the level of direction! No words are spoken and a whistle makes them seem so professional!
There are professional whistlers of course who do whistle in a good tune and they even have competitions for that! There are certifications awarded and it is a respectable training and trait to have!
Now whistling is just like singing though! You just cannot start somewhere inappropriate
Whistling as a song or in a tune is usually safe and decent and the time whistling becomes a point of contention is when it’s used for Eve teasing.
One of the most commonly heard whistle and maybe something which almost everyone has heard at some point of his or her life and maybe even tried it is this whistle! In that a particular type of whistling gets the most blame and it is linked to an animal! Yes! That is called the wolf whistle!
Wolf whistle is seldom considered decent! Apparently there was a time in the past when whistling was like a compliment and it was intended like that only but a wolf whistle is frowned upon most of the times!
The name comes from the Wolf character in the popular 1943 Tex Avery cartoon Red Hot Riding Hood who whistles in this way at the sexy female character Red! He whistles at her in several other subsequent cartoons. The term appears in North American newspapers as early as 1943. It appears in British newspapers from 1949 onwards.
But did you know that one of the other origins of the wolf whistle was actually as a part of the calls of alarm in a ship?!
So one theory is that the wolf whistle originates from the navy General Call made with a boatswain’s pipe. The General Call is made on a ship to get the attention of all hands for an announcement. Sailors in harbour would whistle the General Call upon seeing an attractive woman to draw fellow sailors’ attention to her!
It was eventually picked up by passers-by, not knowing the real meaning of the whistle, and passed on! Of course whatever be the explanation when Jim Carrey as the Mask does his whistle in an obvious intention of expressing desire, he is shown as a wolf! Now this story may not be true but then it is not important since there is no statistics involved! Thinking about stats and research brings into mind birthday celebrity Harsha Bhogle!
Now I know snakes may not come when you whistle but still why take a chance! So don’t whistle and sleep!
Shubh Ratri!
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