Commentary: Whistling while you work

As a boy growing up in Texas, I found that whistling played an important role in my life. My father would whistle for us to come in at night. This could be with thumb and forefinger against the tongue – or four fingers, if he needed serious amplification. All of us whistled for the dogs to come in. Still do. I loved the movie “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” for the whistling so hauntingly included by Ennio Morricone. “The Andy Griffith Show” also inspired me with its a capella whistling theme song. Even now, I want to join in – and I’m sure some of you did. My neighbor when I was a kid used to whistle Christmas tunes as he put up Christmas decorations. “Jingle Bells” was one of his favorites. Seemed strange to me given that we only got snow about once every 30 years in South Texas. But he was a good whistler. Cowboys whistled to herd cattle and communicate with each other. Whistles can be heard at far greater range than speech. It’s efficient. And your whistle is always with you. Whistling has a vocabulary. The universally known wolf whistle can land you a 700-euro fine in France if you do it in public. The term comes from “Looney Tunes,” where the Wolf whistles at Little Red Riding Hood, but that’s another story for another day. There are many interesting expressions about whistling. Ever heard of whistling past the graveyard? You’re showing that you don’t have a care in the world about the dangers you are ignoring. I like popular songs with whistling. Like “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay.” Or even this featured in “Kill Bill,” but from the film, “Twisted Nerve.” How about “Patience” by Guns N’ Roses? There are many great ones, but the whistling that seems always to be on a ready loop at the back of mind comes from the Spaghetti Westerns, like this one from “A Fistful of Dollars.”