Best Songs With Whistling
Welcome to our playlist featuring the best songs with whistling in the music.
Why whistling? Because it’s just plain fun!
Whistling is also one of the simplest and easiest to produce musical accompaniments. As Lauren Bacall said in the movie “To Have and Have Not,” all you have to do is “put your lips together and blow.”
The best songs with whistling
We hope you enjoy this playlist featuring the best songs with whistling. Some include a whistle as only a minor accent to the overall musical production. In others, whistling dominates throughout the song.
Be sure to also check out the big list of whistling songs through the decades below!
1. Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes
Year: 2009
Album: Up From Below
Lead singer Alex Ebert whistles this feel-good song’s intro and sings the chorus with fellow vocalist (and ex-girlfriend) Jade Castrinos.
2. Jungle Love by Steve Miller Band
Year: 1977
Album: Book of Dreams
The introductory whistle in “Jungle Love” stands out in an ear-catching way, much like you’d hear someone hail a cab on a street corner.
3. Patience by Guns N’ Roses
Year: 1988
Album: G N’ R Lies
GNR frontman Axl Rose is credited with the beautiful whistling as Slash strums an acoustic guitar at the beginning of the band’s song “Patience.”
4. Love Is a Battlefield by Pat Benatar
Year: 1983
Album: Live From Earth
This whistle song by Pat Benatar was a commercial success, helped in large part by its continuous airplay on MTV during the early 1980s.
5. Golden Years by David Bowie
Year: 1975
Album: Station To Station
It’s hard to imagine, but legend has it that David Bowie intended for Elvis Presley to perform this whistle song. For reasons we may never know, the King rejected it.
6. Young Folks by Peter, Björn and John
Year: 2006
Album: Writer’s Block
The Swedish trio Peter, Björn and John originally used the whistling in “Young Folks” as a placeholder for another instrument to be added later in production. But they liked it so much that they left it in the final cut of the song.
7. Hocus Pocus by Focus
Year: 1971
Album: Moving Waves
“Hocus Pocus” became a big hit despite being created mainly as a spoof of rock songs of the era. The non-conventional, mostly instrumental song (some would call it a novelty song) not only includes whistling but also features yodeling.
8. Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard by Paul Simon
Year: 1972
Album: Paul Simon
Paul Simon performs the whistling solo in the recorded version of this song. But in concert, he sometimes replaces it with a saxophone solo.
9. Wind Of Change by Scorpions
Year: 1990
Album: Crazy World
Lead singer Klaus Meine came up with the melody for “Wind Of Change” when the Scorpions toured Moscow in 1989. He started whistling the song as they boated down the Moskva River, inspired by the cultural and political changes that allowed them, a German band, to perform in Russia.
10. Cornflake Girl by Tori Amos
Year: 1994
Album: Under The Pink
Tori Amos had to fight for the short bit of whistling at the beginning of “Cornflake Girl.” To her, it represented “cowboys coming over the hill.” The production crew preferred replacing it with a mandolin.
More Songs With Whistling:
Let’s take a look at more songs that feature whistling through the decades.
1940s
White Christmas by Bing Crosby
1950s
Magic Moments by Perry Como
Butterfly by Andy Williams
Singing The Blues by Guy Mitchell
1960s – songs with whistling
(Sittin’ On) the Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding
Here Comes the Rain, Baby by Roy Orbison
Two Of Us by The Beatles
Michael by The Highwaymen
Love Letters by Pat Boone
Only Love Can Break A Heart by Gene Pitney
Wild About My Lovin’ by The Lovin’ Spoonful
Here Comes My Baby by The Tremeloes
I Was Kaiser Bill’s Batman by John O’Neill
Daydream by The Lovin’ Spoonful
1970s
Jealous Guy by John Lennon
The Stranger by Billy Joel
That Smell by Lynyrd Skynyrd
My Tennessee Mountain Home by Dolly Parton
Jimmy Jazz by The Clash
Can’t Smile Without You by Barry Manilow
Montego Bay by Bobby Bloom
Clair by Gilbert O’Sullivan
Ships In The Night by Be-Bop Deluxe
1980s – songs with whistling
Games Without Frontiers by Peter Gabriel
Centerfold by The J. Geils Band
Don’t Worry, Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
Generals and Majors by XTC
La La Love You by Pixies
Don’t Worry Be Happy by Bobby McFerrin
The Whistling Song by Meat Puppets
Six Months In A Leaky Boat by Split Enz
1990s
Sissyneck by Beck
Over My Shoulder by Mike + The Mechanics
Engel by Rammstein
Joyride by Roxette
Lay Down The Law by G. Love & Special Sauce
2000s – songs with whistling
Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
5 Years Time by Noah and the Whale
Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5
Alpha Beta Gaga by Air
Good Life by OneRepublic
Whistle For The Choir by The Fratellis
Hang ‘Em High by My Chemical Romance
Oh No by Andrew Bird
The End Of The End by Paul McCartney
Roter Sand by Rammstein
Sorry by Guns N’ Roses
People Are Crazy by Billy Currington
There It Go (The Whistle Song) by Juelz Santana
2010s
I Got You by Jack Johnson
Let’s Go Surfing by The Drums
Tighten Up by The Black Keys
Chill Bill by Rob Stone
A Rock Star Bucks A Coffee Shop by Neil Young
All Day by Kanye West
Harvey Bodine by Brad Paisley
All I’m Drinking ‘Bout by Jason Michael Carroll
Show You Off by Dan + Shay
Sparks by Hilary Duff
Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People
Sucker by Jonas Brothers
The Big Bang by Rock Mafia
All Wash Out by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros
Trampoline by Shaed
Verge by Owl City
Summertime of Our Lives by Cody Simpson
You Broke Up With Me by Walker Hayes
Simple by Florida Georgia Line
Crazy Kids by Kesha
Day Drinking by Little Big Town
Lost On You by LP
Warm Foothills by Alt-J
More 2010s songs with whistling
Whistle by Flo Rida
Pumpin’ Blood by NONONO
Rewrite by Paul Simon
Old & Crazy by Bruno Mars
Love Is Easy by McFly
The Kids Aren’t Alright by Fall Out Boy
Ticker Tape by Gorillaz
Made Of Glass by KT Tunstall
DNA by BTS
I Like How It Feels by Enrique Iglesias
My Molasses by Awolnation
I Wanna Go by Britney Spears
Into The Wild by LP
Don’t Cry by Britney Spears
Eastwood by Brad Paisley
We Ought to Be Drinkin’ by Sheryl Crow
What Part of Forever by Cee Lo Green
Fatal Shore by Andrew Bird
Ghost Town by Adam Lambert
July by Noah Cyrus
Girls in Bikinis by Lee Brice
One Way Ticket by Carrie Underwood
Go Gentle by Robbie Williams
The Walker by Fitz and The Tantrums
Sun Daze by Florida Georgia Line
2020s – songs with whistling
Can I Get It by Adele
Bunny Is A Rider by Caroline Polachek
I Ain’t Worried by OneRepublic
One Last Time by LP
Run by OneRepublic
Same Boat by Zac Brown Band
Numb by Marshmello
Bonus: TV & Movie Soundtrack Songs With Whistling
- Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python
- The Fishin’ Hole (from “The Andy Griffith Show”) by Earle Hagen and Herbert Spencer
- The Ecstasy of Gold (from “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”) by Ennio Morricone
- City of Stars (from “La La Land”) by Ryan Gosling & Emma Stone
- “Taxi Driver” Soundtrack by Bernard Herrmann
Thanks for checking out the best songs with whistling in the music. Here are more song playlists you’ll enjoy.
By Greg Johnson | Published 7/27/2022
