Dear listeners,
When Billy Joel While working on what would become his hit 1977 album, “The Stranger,” he played the opening chords of the title track for his producer Phil Ramone, whistling a melody that he imagined another instrument would play on the final recording. “I put it all together and I'm done,” he wrote in 2013. “I look at it and say, 'So what instrument should that be?'” Ramone responded, “You just did it.” The rest is music history.
On Monday, Joel announced that he will release his first new pop single in nearly two decades next week. Fortuitous moment! While listening to “The Stranger” over the weekend, I found myself considering the pop musical's whistle.
It's a very simple expression, but in a song it can convey a wide range of feelings and tones. A whistle can be childish and fun (see: the whistle solo in Pablo Simon's “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”) or it can be an adult expression of vulnerability (like the broken whistle that John Lennon reunites on the heartbreaking “Jealous Guy”). Some whistles are innocent as lambs, and others, particularly those of the “wolf” variety, are unmistakably lascivious. But the best of all is that it is a free instrument that almost all of us carry with us all the time. You don't even need to take lessons to play it acceptably.
While we wait for Joel's latest, “Turn the Lights Back On” (which may or may not include a whistle), today's playlist is a tribute to the pop musical whistle, in all its glory and multitudes. I hope these 10 songs get you wet… well, it doesn't matter. And if you don't know how to whistle, you can always consult Lauren Bacall.
Listen on Spotify while you read.
1. Billy Joel: “The Stranger”
The aforementioned whistle acts as a kind of theme for the album “The Stranger,” setting its tone and repeating itself later, at the end of the ending track. Joel said the feeling he was looking for was the “sound of a man walking down a Parisian street at night, and all the streets are shining with rain.” (Listen on YouTube)
2. Caroline Polachek: “Bunny is a rider”
An appealing, repeated whistle urges Caroline Polachek's restless heroine on this 2021 single, which unfolds as a kind of pop travelogue. (Listen on YouTube)
3. Peter Gabriel: “Games without borders”
Peter Gabriel eerily describes war as a kind of child's play in this tuneful 1980 hit, which features backing vocals from Kate Bush, invoking the French name of the European game show “Jeux sans frontières.” The whistling motif that echoes throughout is both funny and creepy. (Listen on YouTube)
4. Peter Bjorn and John: “Young People”
I almost included this 2006 song on my “Summer of Saltburn” playlist a few weeks ago, but it fits even better here. “Young Folks,” the best-known track by Swedish indie-pop group Peter Bjorn and John, has a carefree whistling chorus that immediately recalls a particular sense of mid-2000s fantasy. (Listen on YouTube)
5. Paul Simon: “Julio and I in the schoolyard”
Speaking of fantasy, here's a Paul Simon classic that also appeared on my Wes Anderson playlist last year. The song's arrangement is so light and childish that a guitar solo mid-song would be too intense; So, Simon wisely reasoned, how about a whistle solo? (Listen on YouTube)
6. Dick Hyman: “The Moog and I”
You might recognize this one from Beck, who memorably sampled it in the intro to his track “Sissyneck” from “Odelay.” A whistled melody meanders through a 1969 song by jazz pianist and electronic music pioneer Dick Hyman, who contrasts familiar human-generated sounds with synthetic ones created with a Moog synthesizer, then a novel instrument. (Listen on YouTube)
7. Juelz Santana: “There it goes (the whistle song)”
A minimalist, melodic descending whistle provides the infectious hook for this 2005 hit from New York rapper and Cam'ron collaborator Juelz Santana, and provides the main reason why this song still gets stuck in my head all the time. “I decided to simplify,” Santana once said of writing the song. “I knew the whistle would be something people would come back to and it would be distinctive. “People don’t want to hear too much.” (Listen on YouTube)
8. John Lennon with Plastic Ono Band: “Jealous Guy”
I appreciate the wobbly imperfection in the whistle solo in the middle of this one because it adds to the vulnerability Lennon channels throughout a deeply personal song. (Listen on YouTube)
9. Guns N' Roses: “Patience”
A karaoke standard, even more so if you can match Axl Rose note for note in his extended whistling intro. (Listen on YouTube)
10. Otis Redding: “(Sitting on) The Bay Pier”
Finally, I'll play you this classic from Otis Redding, who perfectly captures the laid-back feeling of “sitting on the bay dock, wasting time” idly whistling a tune as the song fades out. (Listen on YouTube)
Whistling songs we hide in the dunes by the sea,
Lindsay
The Amp Playlist
Listen to it on Spotify. We update this playlist with each new newsletter.
“In Praise of Pop Music Whistling” track listing
Track 1: Billy Joel, “The Stranger”
Track 2: Caroline Polachek, “Bunny Is a Rider”
Track 3: Peter Gabriel, “Games Without Borders”
Track 4: Peter Bjorn and John, “Young Folks”
Track 5: Paul Simon, “Julio and I in the Schoolyard”
Track 6: Dick Hyman, “The Moog and Me”
Track 7: Juelz Santana, “There It Goes (The Whistle Song)”
Track 8: John Lennon with Plastic Ono Band, “Jealous Guy”
Track 9: Guns N' Roses, “Patience”
Track 10: Otis Redding, “(Sittin' on) The Dock of the Bay”
