Dear listeners
when billy joel While working on his 1977 hit album The Stranger, he played the opening chords of the title song for producer Phil Ramone, imagining that a different instrument would play on the final recording. I whistled a melody. “It’s all a whistle blower,” he wrote in 2013. “I look at him and say, ‘So what instrument is that?'” Ramone replied, “You just did it.” The rest is music history.
Joel announced Monday that he will release his first new pop single in nearly 20 years next week. Coincidental timing! While listening to “The Stranger” over the weekend, I found myself thinking about whistles in pop music.
Although it is a very simple expression, songs can convey a variety of emotions and tones.Whistle can be childish and playful (see also: Whistle Solo paul simon“Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard”), or may be an expression of adult weakness (as in the broken whistle) John Lennon Gathering about the pathetic “Jealous Guy”). Some whistles are as innocent as a lamb, while others, especially the “wolf” type, are undeniably amorous. But the best of all is that this is a free instrument that almost all of us carry with us at all times. You don’t even need to take lessons, you can play normally.
While you wait for Joel’s latest song “Turn the Lights Back On” (which may or may not have a whistle break), today’s playlist features pop music whistles in all their glory and variety. This is a homage to. I hope these 10 songs of his warm your heart…well, never mind. If you don’t know how to whistle, you can always ask Lauren Bacall.
Listen and read on Spotify.
1. Billy Joel: “The Stranger”
The aforementioned whistle serves as a kind of theme for the album “The Stranger”, setting the tone for the album, and is later repeated at the end of the final track. Joel said the feeling he was looking for was “the sound of men walking down the streets of Paris at night, and the streets are all glistening with the rain.” (Listen on YouTube)
2. Caroline Polachek: “Bunny is a Rider”
This 2021 single unfolds like a kind of pop travelogue, with repeated whistles beckoning Caroline Polachek’s restless heroine. (Listen on YouTube)
3. Peter Gabriel: “A game without frontiers”
Peter Gabriel memorably depicts war as some kind of children’s game in this jaunty 1980 hit featuring backing vocals by Kate Bush, and was inspired by the European game show Without Borders. It is reminiscent of the French name. The whistling motif that echoes throughout gives a sense of playfulness and eeriness at the same time. (Listen on YouTube)
4. Peter Bjorn and John: “The Young Men”
I almost put this 2006 song on my “Summer of Saltburn” playlist a few weeks ago, but it’s even more fitting here. Swedish indie pop group Peter Björn & John’s most famous song, “Young Folks,” has a happy-go-lucky whistle refrain that instantly brings to mind its mid-2000s sense of whimsy. (Listen on YouTube)
5. Paul Simon: “Me and Julio by the schoolyard.”
Speaking of quirky, here’s a Paul Simon classic that appeared on my Wes Anderson playlist last year. The arrangement of this song is very light and childish, so the guitar solo in the song would be too intense. So Simon wisely reasoned, what about a whistle solo? (Listen on YouTube)
6. Dick Hyman: “Moog and Me”
Some of you may know this song, but Beck memorably sampled this song in the intro to the track “Sissy Neck” from “O’Delay.” His 1969 song by jazz pianist and electronic music pioneer Dick Hyman features a whistling melody, a familiar sound produced by humans, and the Moog, a novel instrument at the time, created with his synthesizer. Contrasting synthesized sounds. (Listen on YouTube)
7. Jewels Santana: “There It Go (Whistle Song)”
A minimalist, melodically descending whistle provides the infectious hook to this 2005 hit by New York rapper and Cam’ron collaborator Juelz Santana, and the song still sticks in my head. This is the main reason why I don’t leave. Santana once said of the song’s structure, “I decided to simplify it.” “We knew the whistle was something people would come back to and something unique. People don’t want to hear too much.” (Listen on YouTube)
8. John Lennon Featuring The Plastic Ono Band: “Jealous Guy”
I appreciate the unstable imperfection of the whistle solo in the middle of this song. Because it emphasizes the vulnerability that Lennon conveys throughout this deeply personal song. (Listen on YouTube)
9. Guns N’ Roses: “Patience”
This is the standard for karaoke. Even more so if you can match it note for note with Axl Rose’s long whistle intro. (Listen on YouTube)
10. Otis Redding: “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
Lastly, I would like to introduce this all-timer song by Otis Redding. The song perfectly captures the relaxed feeling of “sitting on a dock in the bay and wasting time,” whistling absentmindedly as the song fades out. (Listen on YouTube)
Hiding in the sand dunes by the seaside while whistling,
lindsay
amp playlist
Listen on Spotify. We will update this playlist with each new newsletter.
“Pop music praise whistle” track list
Track 1: Billy Joel “The Stranger”
Track 2: Caroline Polachek “The Bunny Is a Rider”
Track 3: Peter Gabriel “Games Without Frontiers”
Track 4: Peter Bjorn & John “Young Folks”
Track 5: Paul Simon “Me and Julio By the Schoolyard”
Track 6: Dick Hyman “Moog and Me”
Track 7: Jewels Santana “There It Go (The Whistle Song)”
Track 8: John Lennon Featuring The Plastic Ono Band “Jealous Guy”
Track 9: Guns N’ Roses “Patience”
Track 10: Otis Redding “(Sittin’ on) The Dock of the Bay”
