You know how to whistle, don’t you?
August 18, 2011
From “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” to “Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard” to basically any song by Andrew Bird, there’s always something about whistling that that makes a track burrow deep inside your brain and stay there. Earlier this year, Foster The People’s “Pumped Up Kicks” turned a catchy melody and even catchier whistle into a massive crossover hit (it even inspired a cover version by Weezer). This is nothing new of course, if you look at the most popular indie songs of the past few years you’ll find that many of them feature a healthy dosage of whistles (see: “Tighten Up”, “Home”, “Young Folks”). In a tribute to fine artform of just putting your lips together and blowing, I’ve made a mix of some of my favorite whistling tunes, including ones you all know as well as a few that may have slipped under your radar. Enjoy!
MP3 Foster The People – Pumped Up Kicks
MP3 Andrew Bird – A Nervous Tick Motion of the Head to the Left
MP3 Chad VanGalen – Sara
MP3 Noah and the Whale – 5 Years Time
MP3 Rilo Kiley – Ripchord
MP3 De La Soul – Eye Know
MP3 The New Pornographers – Crash Years
MP3 Suckers – Roman Candles
MP3 Black Keys – Tighten Up
MP3 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. – Simple Girl
MP3 Paul Simon – Me and Julio Down By The Schoolyard
MP3 Radical Face – Glory
MP3 Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks
MP3 David Bowie – Golden Years
MP3 The Maccabees – Toothpaste Kisses
MP3 TV on the Radio – A Method
MP3 Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros – Home
MP3 Lovin’ Spoonful – Daydream
MP3 Loney Dear – I Was Only Going Out
MP3 Karen O and the Kids – All Is Love
Let me know some of your favorite whistling songs in the comments!
Tags: Andrew Bird, Black Keys, Chad VanGalen, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., David Bowie, De La Soul, Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Foster The People, Karen O, Lovin Spoonful, Noah and the Whale, Paul Simon, Peter Bjorn and John, Radical Face, Rilo Kiley, Suckers, The Maccabees, TV on the Radio
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August 18th, 2011 at 11:50 am
I love the whistling solo in
Parliament – I Just Got Back (From Another World)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jhxhrKId48
August 18th, 2011 at 12:04 pm
“Feedback In the Field” by Plants & Animals has a killer whistled hook. And a pretty terrible music video. http://youtu.be/14gkOhYoUs0
August 19th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Elliott Smith – Jealous Guy (Lennon cover)
August 19th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
roxy music cover of jealous guy!!!!!
August 19th, 2011 at 4:45 pm
Goldfrapp’s Lovely Head !
http://youtu.be/Tmz0QaDNnfc
August 20th, 2011 at 5:17 am
Thanks to this mix I’ve been whistling Patience by Guns ‘N Roses for the last our or so. Could have been worse like The Wind of Change (the Scorpions) or something.
Songs with Whistling in it I do like:
More recently: Stuurbaard Bakkebaard – Sippin’ on your thea
Daedelus – Bright Stars
Air – Alpha beta gaga
Toots Tielemans – Tune for dutch movie Turks Fruit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8Pzkb9JbRk
August 20th, 2011 at 10:09 am
The Drums – Let’s Go Surfing
August 20th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
Great list, even a few I hadn’t heard before! One of my favorites is the infectious whistle in Passenger’s “Caravan”…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eheFYJh0mVs
August 20th, 2011 at 9:51 pm
Looks like my comment got shunted off to moderation, so I’ll try again with a creative misspelling:
The New P0rn0graphers – Crash Years
August 22nd, 2011 at 10:53 am
completely agree with Air- Alpha Beta Gaga!!
August 24th, 2011 at 12:00 pm
This is great! Because of Home and 5 Years Time, I started a playlist like this myself.
These may not contain actual whistling, but kinda sound like it:
Caterpillar Playground by Nurses ( http://youtu.be/V8WNGgnGhvY )
and
Mama’s Mad Cos I Fried My Brain by Turbo Fruits ( http://youtu.be/g2XCSQpq8io )
August 26th, 2011 at 12:59 pm
I mean, whistling doesn’t get much better than this! Love Foster the People, I really like their track Helena Beat, too, check it:
http://www.vevo.com/watch/foster-the-people/helena-beat/USSM21100904
August 27th, 2011 at 4:05 pm
I great songs are missing on this list:Flash A Hungry Smile by Mystery Jets & ‘Raid the Radio’ by General Elektriks.Two sounds I was also able to find for free off of blogs similar to yours.Otherwise a great & fun whistle song list here
August 28th, 2011 at 1:21 pm
My ipod just played “When I Go” by Slow Club, and their whistling therein reminded me of this fun list you created. The version I have is a live one from WTOTS, from 2008. Also, I hope you have both heard and seen the video for their song from this year, Two Cousins!!!