Whistle a Happy Tune!

I don’t hear very much whistling in pop music. I wonder why that is. I guess it has to do with the fact that it’s hard to whistle well, and that there’s a fine line between really good whistling (you know, whistling with a nice tone and just the right amount of vibrato) and really bad whistling (that is, whistling characterized by the combination of a shrill tone and a vibrato you could drive a truck through – a style I not-so-respectfully refer to as “old man” whistling).

When I think back to the music of my youth, two songs featuring someone whistling come to mind: Georgy Girl and Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay. It also occurs to me that while the whistling used in both these songs helps establish an upbeat and carefree kind of mood, at the same time that mood sits in stark contrast to the overall depressing theme of the songs themselves.

The song Georgy Girl was made popular by The Seekers back in 1962. And even though I was only five years old at the time, I remember hearing it on the radio with its bubbly, bouncy, four-bar whistling introduction and thinking, “Boy, that’s kind of different. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anybody whistling on a pop tune before! That sounds sort of fun and happy!” But then, despite its cheery introduction, the song goes on to describe a depressed and lonely young girl who lives in a dream world and runs away from reality. The lyrics even urge Georgy “not to be scared of changing,” and to “jump down from the shelf a little bit.” (I have to wonder if it’s ever a good idea to tell a depressed person to go find something to jump off of! Yikes!) Then, to make matters even worse, the words of the last verse encourage her to look for “another Georgy deep down inside” – suggesting that not only is this poor girl depressed, but apparently she also suffers from what’s known clinically as dissociative identity disorder, (a.k.a multiple personalities). Oh well, so much for my happy, cheery, bouncing little song. It’s sort of a downer, actually.

In Otis Redding’s Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay (1968), the whistling comes at the end of the song – and as the music fades out softly and slowly, the listener can imagine Otis rising from his seat on the dock, and happily and contentedly strolling off down some little road that runs along the bay. And that would be a great image, except for the fact that the lyrics speak of a man who, among other things, feels like “nothing’s gonna come my way,” “has nothing to live for,” suffers from a “loneliness that won’t leave me alone,” and is pathetically prepared to spend the rest of his wretched life “wasting time.” Wow! So much for the image of him happily strolling off into the sunset!

Hey, whatever happened to whistling a happy tune?