I was excited to see Menahan Street Band on the credits as I’ve been a long time fan and was hoping this track heralded a new release by them. What I discovered is that the whistler in the track, Molly Lewis, is the one releasing an album. I’m working my way through it now and it’s lovely!!
Another awesome piece Steve! I can’t believe it’s been that long since Writer’s Block came out. Damn time flies!
I’ve only ever been an okay whistler but to this day I remember exactly where I was in the playground in third grade when my hopeless blowing actually came out as a whistle for the first time. It’s a vivid and indelible memory for me.
Snapping is a weird one. I can only make any sort of noise snapping with my right hand. Snapping with my left hand is soundless. But the way I snap with my right hand is… Well, let’s call it different. I use my thumb and my ring finger.
I have no idea how or why I do it that way. But probably about a decade ago my wife saw my mom snap her fingers. And would you believe? She used her thumb and ring finger! Although she never taught me, that must’ve been where I picked it up from.
I’ve always been a little jealous of those people that can snap back and forth between left and right hands quickly, playing the beat to a song. But I like your idea of just being a fan of people who can do that.
Thanks, Mark! Maybe snapping and whistling abilities are genetic! I think it's more nurture than nature, but perhaps both? I'm impressed that you have a clear memory of your first real whistle!
Thanks! I am so behind on responding to comments. Sheesh. How to people do it? I'm gonna try and email you info about the 3 songs tomorrow, by the way...And thanks for the playlist! I have one too. I'll compare notes.
I'd always thought snapping was a jazz/scat thing. Then I noticed that some folk singers did it.
For whistling favorites, I'd say G'nR's "Patience," ... Paul Simon's "Me and Julio..." ... the Beatles "Two of Us" ... and of course the Pythons' "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
I had to play "Patience" to remember that it had whistling. Today they are auto-tuning whistling! 😀 (Hopefully this is a joke). And yes, Pythons' is a classic. It's on my playlist.
This is a gorgeous article, thank you so much for sharing.
Being a proper earworm I have always loved the song. Not being a native English speaker I tend to forget about the lyrics of songs. You having given me a whole new appreciation of the song by showing the sweetness of the lyrics. Thanks!
Thanks! You make a good point, as none of the members of Peter Bjorn & John are native English speakers either. There is something about lyrics from non-natives that might lean toward directness and sweetness. Though I would bet that it depends on what country the band/artist is from.
This was a really fun read. I can snap, but I cannot whistle. I can twist and even turn over my tongue, though. It's funny what we take for granted, isn't it!
Thanks Mallie! I can never tell how much of whistling is tongue vs. lips vs. throat. It’s supposedly easier to teach than snapping, from my limited research.
I have only recently lost the ability to whistle. Apparently, this is something you can lose! Much to my dog's chagrin, I can still snap when he's being a little too extra. Great post that I hadn't read yet! I love this song.
I guess whistling is not like riding a bike. Thanks for reading and commenting! As a dog walker, I feel like I’m working with two fewer tools in my doggie tool chest…
Hey Steve, just this morning an amazing whistling track appeared on my Release Radar Spotify playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/track/43YNSCAKcB62JhN7nV7WS0?si=2x-mb7r2QEGubazVk6Cmjw&context=spotify%3Aalbum%3A2EaFjK4isYVM689kcpyIAY
I was excited to see Menahan Street Band on the credits as I’ve been a long time fan and was hoping this track heralded a new release by them. What I discovered is that the whistler in the track, Molly Lewis, is the one releasing an album. I’m working my way through it now and it’s lovely!!
Album is here: https://open.spotify.com/album/2EaFjK4isYVM689kcpyIAY?si=8pVMmsQOT3iQEcDMPPwvxQ
This is great! Thanks for sharing! I've added to my new releases folder.
Another awesome piece Steve! I can’t believe it’s been that long since Writer’s Block came out. Damn time flies!
I’ve only ever been an okay whistler but to this day I remember exactly where I was in the playground in third grade when my hopeless blowing actually came out as a whistle for the first time. It’s a vivid and indelible memory for me.
Snapping is a weird one. I can only make any sort of noise snapping with my right hand. Snapping with my left hand is soundless. But the way I snap with my right hand is… Well, let’s call it different. I use my thumb and my ring finger.
I have no idea how or why I do it that way. But probably about a decade ago my wife saw my mom snap her fingers. And would you believe? She used her thumb and ring finger! Although she never taught me, that must’ve been where I picked it up from.
I’ve always been a little jealous of those people that can snap back and forth between left and right hands quickly, playing the beat to a song. But I like your idea of just being a fan of people who can do that.
Thanks, Mark! Maybe snapping and whistling abilities are genetic! I think it's more nurture than nature, but perhaps both? I'm impressed that you have a clear memory of your first real whistle!
Love this issue, and love the song! 😗🎶. You know, I have a whole playlist of songs that I like to whistle to - https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5qiTC4DMp0yJai6PAIbfKQ?si=005e90f3f4034051 I don't know how it's possible but I somehow skipped Young Folks there! Thanks for reminding me of it 🫶
Thanks! I am so behind on responding to comments. Sheesh. How to people do it? I'm gonna try and email you info about the 3 songs tomorrow, by the way...And thanks for the playlist! I have one too. I'll compare notes.
Here's my whistling/snapping playlist.
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/10VhT1AN3g0pz4HCWP4gdq?si=d4baeffafef24c3d
no worries, there's no hurry ;) Awesome, thanks for the mix, I'm gonna dive straight into it
Such a cool piece. I'm a powerful snapper, but unfortunately never mastered the art of whistling
I can hear your snapping all the way in the Bay Area of the U.S.! Powerful!
You are young -- you have whistling days ahead of you, I can just tell!
🤣🤣
Great piece, Steve.
I'd always thought snapping was a jazz/scat thing. Then I noticed that some folk singers did it.
For whistling favorites, I'd say G'nR's "Patience," ... Paul Simon's "Me and Julio..." ... the Beatles "Two of Us" ... and of course the Pythons' "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."
I had to play "Patience" to remember that it had whistling. Today they are auto-tuning whistling! 😀 (Hopefully this is a joke). And yes, Pythons' is a classic. It's on my playlist.
This is a gorgeous article, thank you so much for sharing.
Being a proper earworm I have always loved the song. Not being a native English speaker I tend to forget about the lyrics of songs. You having given me a whole new appreciation of the song by showing the sweetness of the lyrics. Thanks!
Thanks! You make a good point, as none of the members of Peter Bjorn & John are native English speakers either. There is something about lyrics from non-natives that might lean toward directness and sweetness. Though I would bet that it depends on what country the band/artist is from.
This was a really fun read. I can snap, but I cannot whistle. I can twist and even turn over my tongue, though. It's funny what we take for granted, isn't it!
Thanks Mallie! I can never tell how much of whistling is tongue vs. lips vs. throat. It’s supposedly easier to teach than snapping, from my limited research.
I've got a kazoo. I'll use it when I want to make unique sounds. LOL!
You should create a kazoo-song playlist! I'm sure you'd find out that a lot of songs have kazoo that you didn't realize!
Color me intrigued!
I have only recently lost the ability to whistle. Apparently, this is something you can lose! Much to my dog's chagrin, I can still snap when he's being a little too extra. Great post that I hadn't read yet! I love this song.
I guess whistling is not like riding a bike. Thanks for reading and commenting! As a dog walker, I feel like I’m working with two fewer tools in my doggie tool chest…