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20 Dec 08 - 08:33 PM (#2521013) Subject: is whistling making a comeback? From: Jack Campin For years I've thought whistling was headed for oblivion. I used to do it a lot, but have hardly heard anybody else doing it in public for a very long time. In the last few weeks I've heard a lot more of it. Building site workers, people in bus queues. Anybody else encountered it recently? Is there a reason? I suppose it makes sense in hard times, as one of the few ways you can make your own entertainment for free with your flies done up. |
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20 Dec 08 - 08:54 PM (#2521021) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: olddude Jack I hope it does, all I can remember is the theme from Andy Griffth show I loved it |
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20 Dec 08 - 08:57 PM (#2521022) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Azizi ..."you can make your own entertainment for free with your flies done up". Jack Campin, I know this is tangential to what you asked, but what does "with your flies done up" mean? I'm sorry, but the first thing I thought of was a man's pants were unzippered and some woman whistled at him, but that would be "with your flies down". Or maybe that was a typo and you meant to write that people were whistling because they feel happy cause they done finished eating french fries that come with a McDonald Happy Meal... Naw. Probably not. Okay. Maybe you mean that all the flies that people use when they are fishing are used up {or "done up" as you phrased it}. So the fishermen or fisherwomen don't mind whistling cause they are done fishing and their whistling won't scare the fish away. {You can see from this example that I know absolutely nothing about fishing. People use flies as bait, don't they? And they have to be quiet when they fish, don't they or else the fish will know that they are there. If not, scratch that possible meaning. Better yet, let me just say that I don't have a clue what "with your flies done up" means. And when I say I don't know, I'm not just whistlin' Dixie. ;O) |
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20 Dec 08 - 09:29 PM (#2521039) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: olddude Frankie Lane use do do some whistling on some of his records also really neat effect |
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20 Dec 08 - 11:01 PM (#2521072) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: JennieG Guy Mitchell's 'Singing the blues" from way back when also featured whistling, as did several other 50s hits. Cheers JennieG |
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21 Dec 08 - 01:56 AM (#2521126) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: meself Azizi: Your initial impression was closest, but something got lost in the translation. "Flies" is what we North Americans generally refer to in the singular as "fly"; i.e., the zipper in the front of a man's pants, as you surmised. The gist of Jack's statement was that whistling is what you might more commonly hear as "the most fun you can have with your boots on". *************** There was a thread on this very subject a couple of years ago. Seems to me that McGrath said he was hearing whistling fairly often, and I believe I said that I rarely hear it anymore. Maybe it's been undergoing a revival on the far side of the pond ... |
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21 Dec 08 - 04:48 AM (#2521175) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Rasener I saw Harvey Andrews a few weeks back and he still does whistling in his act, and also gets the audience to participate (Thats amusing). |
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21 Dec 08 - 05:13 AM (#2521184) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Megan L "A whistleing wife and a crowing hen are neither good for beast or men" |
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21 Dec 08 - 05:39 AM (#2521201) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Jack Blandiver My Grandmother was a virtuoso whistler, improvising all manner of melodies, trills and bird songs constantly at her daily housework. I remember her having dialogues with blackirds in the garden. She picked up on Alessandro Alessandroni's wistling in Morricone's scores, and could give Ronnie Ronalde and Roger Whittaker a run for their money, but she made nothing of it beyond her personal amusement. I really wish I'd recorded her. I can barely whistle a note, and admire those who can. |
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21 Dec 08 - 06:32 AM (#2521223) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Dave the Gnome It is funny, Megan, how different areas have different variations. From Swinton, Manchester, or possibly Ruddlan, Wales, "A whistling woman and a crowing hen brings the devil from his den." Where is your version from? DeG (Enjoys whistling but is often told to put a sock in it:-) ) |
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21 Dec 08 - 06:39 AM (#2521227) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: John Minear Check out anything and everything by Emily Eagen, an international whistling champion, and an excellent instructor at Augusta Heritage's "Vocal Week". Among many other fine things, she has taught a course on whistling there for the past several years. Here is an older link to look at: http://www.magazine.uc.edu/0101/whistler.htm |
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21 Dec 08 - 06:53 AM (#2521236) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: David C. Carter Does anyone remember the theme music of an American cop series on BBC tv called "Ghost Squad". Must have been sometime in the 60s.Quite haunting,I find myself whistling it often. Jerry Jeff Walker,s version of "Banks of The Old Bandera"finishes with him whistling at the end.A nice touch. David |
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21 Dec 08 - 07:06 AM (#2521241) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Rog Peek I am an habitual whistler, always have been. At work they say they can always tell it's me on the way before I arrive. My Dad was the same, I wonder if it's hereditary? My wife hates it, but I say it's because she's jealous, can't whistle at all. Rog |
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21 Dec 08 - 03:12 PM (#2521608) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Betsy I whistle all the time - especialy when working on my PC at home or work. These days I also find it useful to whistle whilst trying to encourge my bladder to empty. I also tend whistle when I am deep in thought - problem solving , it is probably mildly theraputic for me. I worked in Azerbaijan and was told very firmly by locals in the office that I should not whistle - it was a sign of trouble and bad luck . As it turns out - they were right - but that's another story !! Cheers Betsy |
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21 Dec 08 - 03:31 PM (#2521625) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: kendall I had a Navy recruiter two doors down from my office who was always whistling the same tune over and over, and off key! It nearly drove me batty! That's the trouble with most whistlers; they can't stay on key and it's torture for people who don't have a "Tin ear". In a ship there are only two people who are allowed to whistle. The Captain may whistle for wind, (No longer needed since sails went out) and Bos'ns with their Bosn's pipe which serves as a call much like the bugle in the army. If you were caught whistling and you were not a Bos'n or the Captain, you were reprimanded. I remember hearing, "Only Bos'ns and queers whistle. Which are you"? Then there was, "Only whores and Yoemen make a living on their ass." Seems like there was an insult for every occasion. I have heard whistlers that could keep the key, but they are damned rare. |
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21 Dec 08 - 04:05 PM (#2521652) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: VirginiaTam I have always been a whstler. Pretty good too, even in the days (childhood) when I could not carry a tune singing, I could whistle. Copied Andy Griffith theme tune (which is quite difficult) and gone on from there. I understand that whistling is inappropriate for women? Is it something to do with the shape of the lips and the suckin and blowin? Insert waggling eyebrows here. |
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21 Dec 08 - 05:13 PM (#2521700) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: olddude How about Lightfoots "ghosts of cape horn" he whistles in it ... and a pretty darn good job of it also |
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21 Dec 08 - 07:47 PM (#2521808) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Ebbie Another version: My grandmother told me reprovingly that 'Whistling girls and crowing hens always come to some bad end.' Bruised my spirit. It wasn't until years later that I recalled that she whistled all the time. |
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21 Dec 08 - 10:40 PM (#2521912) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,leeneia When my husband and I want to find one another in a big supermarket, we start whistling. It works. I can still remember the joyous moment when I produced my first, faint whistling sound. It was before I went to kindergarten, so I was young. My father whistled, so I wanted to as well. I still enjoy it. Ebbie: be very skeptical of people who think a statement is valid true merely because it rhymes. But of course you have figured that out. |
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21 Dec 08 - 10:57 PM (#2521917) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Ebbie You mean rhyming doesn't make it true?! If you can't trust that, what can you trust? :) The reason my feelings were hurt is that I really admired my grandma- I was 7 or so and she was old, a cheerful little bird of a woman, even though she must have been at least 60! |
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22 Dec 08 - 12:10 AM (#2521931) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: JennieG We've had threads on whistling in the past - here's one: whistling while you work Cheers JennieG |
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22 Dec 08 - 07:34 AM (#2522101) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler I wish I could remember more, but I did once read a touching story in a Reader's Digest (probably in the dentist's waiting room) about a child born with serious medical problems who could whistle before she could talk, I think at about a year old. A friend of mine performs the Mexican Whistler on flute and I claim that he is cheating. I've never seen an explanation of how to do that two note trill that uses the angle of your tongue to change. I can do it but I can't explain it myself! |
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22 Dec 08 - 08:02 AM (#2522119) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,Meggly I like to whistle alot (probably genetic on me Father's side). As a young-ish woman I've had two negative comments: As a student in Japan (for six months) my Japanese homestay mother asked me if women in the UK were allowed to whistle (after she'd heard me carrying on). Apparently it is not the done thing for women to whistle in Japan (same as playing their indigeonous flute: the shakuhatchi. I presume for the reasons Verginia Tam initmates. And incidently if you ask a woman in Japanese if she 'blows the shakuhatchi' she will probably slap you (or give you a nice surprise)). I had to conceed to her that women don't usually whilstle in the UK either. Then one day a few years ago, whilst walking down my street, I was whistling when a complete stranger (male in his 50s) told me to to stop. I don't know why, but can only conclude that it was unseemly of me to be whistling (of course I could have been out of tune!). A comment on the practice of whistling for wind. I was told recently (whilst on a tall ship) that there is another side to this superstition (as there is will all superstitions; I mean does bad luck come in threes or is it third time lucky?). Apparently you shouldn't whistle for wind if there's already a bit of it cause you never know the strength of wind you'll end up with. So folks, only whistle if it's dead calm. Anyway, back to the question, I don't know if there are more people whistling these days, but I'm going to carry on. |
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22 Dec 08 - 08:10 AM (#2522126) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,Tunesmith One of my earliest cinema memories is of a scene from The Jolson Story where the young Jolson is having problems with his voice breaking and he whistles instead. |
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22 Dec 08 - 08:34 AM (#2522142) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,LTS pretending to work Whistling women are supposed to be very unlucky, but not as unlucky as whistling in church. I don't know why and as I'm at work I can't look up the dictionary of superstitions. I'm always whistling... I think it's these cordorouy trousers. LTS |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:10 PM (#2522254) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Seamus Kennedy I don't think whistling went away. It just went into hiding for a while. You used to be able to come out of a movie or a stage-musical whistling some of the numbers you'd just heard. Or old country songs on the radio, or operetta, or light opera. I mean, it's hard to walk down the street whistling the melody of a rap song, or hip-hop. Jolson, Bing Crosby, Roger Whittaker, Ronnie Ronalde (who was also a superb yodeller), Ken Curtis (Sons of the Pioneers), my mother and father, me. Great whistlers. Seamus |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:15 PM (#2522261) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: The Sandman whistlings great,the perfect blow job. |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:21 PM (#2522264) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: McGrath of Harlow "In the last few weeks I've heard a lot more of it. Building site workers..." Maybe they were Polish. Or Irish. |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:39 PM (#2522282) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Seamus Kennedy Nice one, Dick. Tasteless, but nice.... Seamus |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:46 PM (#2522290) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,leeneia Discouragement of whistling is just another part of the present huge cultural trend of discouraging music-making by ordinary people. I was at an early-music workshop last year along with many others who play recorders and viols. At dinner we had the following exchange: Leeneia: There is a subtle trend in our society that tries to keep ordinary people from making music. We are supposed to shut up, then buy recordings or purchase concert tickets. Other person: I disagree. It's not subtle. =========== Look at the asinine reasons quoted in this thread: A woman is the same as a hen. It's unlucky. It's wrong in church. (As if we would whistle during a service.) Then there are the unpleasant off-color remarks. Jealous, are you? Can't whistle, can you? And of course, nobody but celebrities is supposed to be Noticed. ========= Speaking of being noticed, I just read a novel where a youth attended a family party. He had multiple piercings and had dyed his hair orange in the attempt to be noticed. Unfortunately, the older people regarded those things as attempts to be hostile, with the result that they looked right through him. So all he could do was lurk behind the pergola and smoke pot. (This is my reading of the situation, not the author's. The author merely reported on the action.) |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:48 PM (#2522293) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: meself What is the poem about the (fictional) cultural lion with the unassuming wife whose only artistic accomplishment was the ability to whistle a tune? |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:54 PM (#2522303) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Rog Peek Tasteless Seamus, how do you know? Rog |
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22 Dec 08 - 01:56 PM (#2522304) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: McGrath of Harlow Multiple piercings and hair dyed orange could actually be a quite an effective way of ensuring that you got ignored by the people you'd prefer ignored you. Of course it might backfire sometimes. |
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22 Dec 08 - 02:05 PM (#2522309) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,leeneia But I was rude and ignored some of you. Ebbie, something can rhyme and still be true. Two vowels went walking, the first did the talking. Now that's profound. Black belt, I read a book called 'Karen' about a child with cerebral palsy. Despite her physical ailment, Karen was very smart. She lay in her bassinet at the hospital where she was born and whistled. The nurses said it happens once in a while with newborn babies. Also, I know what you mean by being able to make a sound and not being able to explain it. The movements that produce such things are very subtle, and we don't have words to describe them. My father could produce a beautiful, birdlike flutter which I would love to be able to imitate. Squeak, it's not the corduroy trousers that cause you to whistle, it's your innate musicality. Singing on TV, bedad! ===== I don't see who posted the naval superstitions against whistling, but I'd like to ask whether anybody has ever heard of a nautical superstition that anything was LUCKY? I don't believe I have. And have you ever heard a nautical belief that caused a sailor to react favorably to another person? I've heard lots of excuses for being unfriendly, but never the other. ======= my favorite whistling occurred on a small cruise boat off Key West. Did you know dolphins are attracted by whistling? We spotted some, and I whistled my family's 'dog, come' whistle. Two adults and two babies swam beside our boat. When I whistled, they would emerge. Then the two young would dive side by side into the water, followed by the adults, also side by side. When I whistled again, they re-appeared. This was repeated about four times. It was heaven! The cardinals used to come in for food near twilight when I filled the feeder and whistled the 'dog,come' whistle. But now fill up the feeder any old time, and I don't want to attract the sparrows, who hog everything. |
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22 Dec 08 - 02:50 PM (#2522351) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Seamus Kennedy Captain Birdseye - please respond to Rog Peek. I'd just dig a deeper hole for myself! *G* Seamus |
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22 Dec 08 - 03:31 PM (#2522387) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Ross Campbell Some people I was at school with could produce that very loud, shrill whistle with two fingers in the mouth, but I could never get it to work. Any ideas? At some stage I developed the ability to produce a similar effect, just with the tongue curled into a tube against the teeth. Sadly? that ability has latterly disappeared, possibly along with the teeth! Too many gaps and not enough puckering flexibility mean that my whistling is far less effective than it used to be ( and I never could produce a whistle when the chorus demanded it). I did register somebody whistling something the other day and thinking how long it was since I'd heard anybody do that. Ross |
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22 Dec 08 - 03:48 PM (#2522401) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: The Sandman the best blower of wind,or Whistling Warbler,was Percy Edwards,the bird imitator. whats Rog on about?,you surely dont call it a suck job,I dont Taste anything when I whistle,apart from when I wet my whistle, which is best done with a pint |
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22 Dec 08 - 03:51 PM (#2522406) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,glueman Anyone who remembers the east midlands of yore will recall Barton's buses. They were known for three things: the rich blood colour of the vehicles, the lesbian clippies, some of whom favoured 1940s fashion well into the 70s and the whistling of the drivers. There must have been a conservatoire or summat. I swear I once got Allegri's Miserere on the Melbourne route. |
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22 Dec 08 - 03:54 PM (#2522409) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: meself "Clippies"? |
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22 Dec 08 - 04:00 PM (#2522417) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: McGrath of Harlow Conductors would clip your ticket with a little machine that went "ping". |
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22 Dec 08 - 04:05 PM (#2522421) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: meself Ah! Thanks. |
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22 Dec 08 - 04:05 PM (#2522422) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: McGrath of Harlow Bus drivers and clippies |
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22 Dec 08 - 04:52 PM (#2522460) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Liz the Squeak Whistling in theatre, particularly on-stage, is considered extremely unlucky.[citation needed] Before the invention of electronic means of communication, sailors were often used as stage technicians, working with the complicated rope systems associated with flying. Coded whistles would be used to call cues, so it is thought that whistling on-stage may cause, for example, a cue to come early, a "sailor's ghost" to drop a batten or flat on top of an actor, or general bad luck in the performance. In Russian and other Slavic cultures, whistling indoors is superstitiously believed to bring poverty ("whistling money away"), whereas whistling outdoors is considered normal. [1] In Serbia, it is said that whistling indoors will attract mice,[citation needed] while in Korea and Japan, whistling is thought to bring snakes.[citation needed] Whistling on board a sailing ship is thought to encourage the wind strength to increase. This is regularly alluded to the Aubrey-Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian. In Hawaiian lore, whistling at night is considered bad luck because it mimics the sound of night marchers. A whistling women and a crowing hen are neither fit for God or men. Still doesn't really explain why, but them's the breaks. LTS |
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23 Dec 08 - 10:53 AM (#2522985) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,leeneia Ross, my father could do that whistle that requires two fingers in the mouth. When we kids were out playing, he would whistle like that to call us to come in. Squeak, there's a basis for all those superstitions. It's called 'the green-eyed monster.' |
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23 Dec 08 - 11:12 AM (#2522996) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Fortunato If Lauren asked me I would. |
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30 Dec 08 - 06:39 AM (#2527265) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Dave the Gnome Squeak, there's a basis for all those superstitions. It's called 'the green-eyed monster.' Any factual basis for the above statement? I, for one, have never heard of any superstitions are based on jelousy but would be very interested to find out if it is true. Cheers DeG |
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30 Dec 08 - 07:07 AM (#2527273) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: VirginiaTam I was called upon to whistle at a session this past Sunday. I didn't even know the song. Just whistled the melody as I had half heard it sung and played prior to the call for a whistler. Random that. |
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30 Dec 08 - 08:22 AM (#2527314) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,Cap'n Flint Wasn't the ship's cook actively encouraged to whistle while at work (so it would be known that he wasn't cramming his mouth with some of the grub)? |
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30 Dec 08 - 10:26 AM (#2527404) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: GUEST,leeneia '...I, for one, have never heard of any superstitions are based on jealousy...' Well, Dave, I have come to believe that when a person emits an irrational, hostile reaction to something nice about another person, then that reaction is founded in jealousy. Whether it's a kid vandalizing someone's garden, an artist sneering at another's work, or a lover getting angry for no good reason, it's all jealousy. And when it's a person making up stupid reasons for someone not to be happy and whistle, it's also jealousy. I'd like to have a bumpersticker that says 'Jealousy - it's the crazy emotion.' Occasionally, there's someone whose whistling is irritating, but that's not the reason for all this b.s. |
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30 Dec 08 - 10:54 AM (#2527432) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Dave the Gnome Ah - OK. Not factual then but I suppose it is sound enough reasoning :-) I was sort of hoping that you had come across something that explained these superstitions back to an older root, like throwing salt in the devils eyes, but I guess they don't all fit in that category. Thanks for the food for thought anyway. I am not sure if "Discouragement of whistling is just another part of the present huge cultural trend of discouraging music-making by ordinary people" is right. Surely the superstitions about whistling go back much further the present 'cultural trend' don't they? Cheers Dave |
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30 Dec 08 - 10:55 AM (#2527433) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Dave the Gnome ...and I claim page 2. It's a superstion! :D |
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30 Dec 08 - 06:22 PM (#2527834) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Bugsy I've always whistled especially when working or concentrating on something. My Dad was a whistler.When we were kids, he even had a tune he'd whistle when we were out together an he lost sight of us - It was a classical piece but I cannot remember the name of it now. (Still remember the tune though). My brother whistles too. Our wives both hate it with a passion! CHeers Bugsy |
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31 Dec 08 - 03:45 PM (#2528562) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Big Al Whittle Springsteen was at it last night on telly. he's no Roger Whittaker or Ronnie Renaldo. |
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31 Dec 08 - 03:50 PM (#2528567) Subject: RE: is whistling making a comeback? From: Big Al Whittle My favourite Roger Whittaker track http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx5G9kmj-Vw |
