Despite there being no college or professional football over the summer (or regulation basketball and hockey), there were PLENTY of whistles heard in May, June, and July.
Welcome to the FIFA World Cup! Congratulations to Spain!
I confess I’ve had little interest in professional soccer until this year. Something about several matches being played on U.S. soil, and hearing our American team might be a true contender, roped me in more than usual. How about you?
My lack of knowledge of the sport tempers my enthusiasm. Two of my kids played youth soccer but their interest didn’t last. I still have too many questions. Okay, give me a red card.
Various whistles are blown during a soccer game. The referees blow whistles to start a game, stop play for fouls or injuries, signal goals, and restart play. In fact, I read the whistle is the referee’s main tool to communicate with players and coaches on the field.
Enough on that. What really got me going on whistling was when I started thinking about how I even learned to whistle myself! I really can’t say. It’s really a remarkable gift, skill, or whatever you want to call it. (That was a hard pivot, wasn’t it?)
Some people are really good at it. It can change your mood! Certain whistling tunes can get fixed in your mind. Like Otis Redding’s lending to The Dock of the Bay. How about the rather cheerful Bobby McFerrin song Don’t Worry, Be Happy! I confess to liking a song by Maroon 5 with a distinctive opening—Moves Like Jagger.
Also worth noting, the vocal jazz trio Lambert, Hendricks & Ross gave us Standin’ on the Corner (Whistlin’ at the Pretty Girls) back in 1958. It even included a wolf whistle and some politically incorrect lyrics to go with some great whistling.
Let’s not forget a song that came out in 1937 by Artie Shaw & His New Music: Whistle While You Work. The Shaw version doesn’t have a whole lot of whistling…BUT it became famous due to Walt Disney’s Snow White! Go to Disneyland and you can’t get that tune out of your head!!
Heard of the movie Whistling in the Dark? It’s a 1941 American comedy film—the first of three films starring Red Skelton! He played Wally “the Fox” Benton, who writes and acts in radio murder mysteries.
But just how does one learn to whistle? I found a detailed answer in a 2026 article, “How to whistle: the art and history of our shrillest skill.” It even includes a picture of six different finger whistling styles. I can’t seem to perfect any of these.
I have somewhat mastered the “two lip” method. As the article explains,
“Whistling is produced when small pockets of air spinning at your lips interact with spaces in your mouth. Puckering your lips and whistling with fingers use the same principles. Musical sound is produced when something, such as a guitar string, vibrates. Vibrations create pressure in the air which moves outward in waves. When we whistle, the air itself becomes the vibrator. What happens next makes it audible.”
Well gawley jeepers! Our lesson continues,
“Different spaces affect a sound wave’s energy as it passes through. Some cavities dampen the energy, while others excite it by swirling around making the cavern itself vibrate or resonate. That’s what makes whistling louder.”
The Bible, of course, mentions whistling in several passages. The Hebrew word for whistling is sharaq. Mostly, it references divine authority or a call to judgment.
In Zechariah 10:8, God intends to “whistle for” His redeemed people, calling them to increase and return. In Isaiah 5:26, God “whistles” as a sovereign signal to foreign armies to swiftly execute His judgment. And in Judges 5:16, we find in the Song of Deborah, that whistling is used for calling out to flocks—a common usage.
“Whistling” and “hissing” might also be used as expressions of scorn, astonishment, or gloating by enemies (i.e. gazing at the destroyed walls of Jerusalem and the Temple.)
I consider the ability to whistle a God-given gift! And I feel a little better about life when I hear the whistling music on those Andy Griffith Show reruns.
So pucker up! And whistle while you work!
