Whistle While You Work

June 17, 2011 8:15 AM

Here's a beautiful little work song created by four postal employees who were recorded as they canceled stamps at the University of Ghana post office in 1975.
posted by overeducated_alligator (23 comments total)

Happy Friday.
posted by overeducated_alligator at 8:15 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I love this. Thanks for posting!
posted by joboe at 8:21 AM on June 17, 2011

This is fantastic, but why do I have "Cecilia" stuck in my head now?
posted by theodolite at 8:42 AM on June 17, 2011 [4 favorites]

I feel compelled to share a work song from my culture.
posted by benito.strauss at 8:49 AM on June 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

Unlike Canada Post, they can't go on strike, they'd be quitting in the middle of the gig...
posted by SNACKeR at 8:53 AM on June 17, 2011

previously

I actually think this has been posted here a few times.
posted by empath at 9:01 AM on June 17, 2011

It's a sweet tune and a good example of how music can turn a bunch of autonomous workers into a kind of machine. I wonder if they up the tempo at Christmas.
posted by Jode at 9:06 AM on June 17, 2011

previously

Yeah. But James Koetting was such a wonderful man who died tragically young, that I wouldn't mind seeing him get a little extra tribute.
posted by StickyCarpet at 9:13 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

Wow, a friend of mine played a recording of that for me about fifteen years ago, hadn't thought much about it since. Thanks.
posted by Jim Slade at 9:28 AM on June 17, 2011

This is fantastic, but why do I have "Cecilia" stuck in my head now?

Paul Simon was stealing rhythms from African musicians earlier than we all thought!
posted by amyms at 9:30 AM on June 17, 2011 [2 favorites]

This recording was in the CD provided with the text in my Music in World Culture class. Even as a non-music major I learned some pretty neat things in that class. Well done.
posted by RolandOfEld at 9:36 AM on June 17, 2011

I hear "Cecilia" and the "Colonel Bogey March," with a little Buckaroo Banzai end credits thrown in.
posted by steef at 9:53 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

I heard this on the CBC a while back. Thanks so much for giving us the link to the whole thing!
posted by Dodecadermaldenticles at 10:05 AM on June 17, 2011

Catchy tune, thanks for posting. That must have been a helluva busy post office!
posted by Quietgal at 10:31 AM on June 17, 2011

Really nice post. The little tune's stuck in my head now, but that's OK.
posted by puddinghead at 10:39 AM on June 17, 2011

This is so wonderful. I wish there were more jobs for which singing was an acceptable way to pass the time and monotony. It's somewhat ironic that recorded music has pretty much eliminated the work song, further contributing to the shriveling of the musicality organs of ordinary people.
posted by Jon_Evil at 10:50 AM on June 17, 2011

God damn that's a great song.
posted by penduluum at 11:01 AM on June 17, 2011

Here's a song I just wrote for my postman right now:

Dear Mr Postman /
Why the fuck won't you wait 30 seconds /
ring my buzzer /
and attempt to deliver my package /
like is your job /
instead of just dropping a slip through the door /
with a final notice on it /
so you can hurry through the rest of your route /
and go home /
I've been here all day /
and have caught you red-handed before /
you lazy son of a bitch /
you are terrible at your one professional task /
I hope you crash your truck
posted by nathancaswell at 11:04 AM on June 17, 2011

I wish there were more jobs for which singing was an acceptable way to pass the time and monotony

Tell that to the person singing Rebecca Black all day today in the next cubical over.

Actually, don't. I hate that person.
posted by empath at 11:13 AM on June 17, 2011

OK, more evidence that some people work more efficiently than others. If I attempted that song while canceling stamps, mail would find its way into nooks and crannies of the earth unknown to the smallest burrowing rodents.
posted by gorgor_balabala at 11:24 AM on June 17, 2011

wow! I took a class in Ghanaian drumming at Brown University in 2003, and we learned how to play this very song, using this recording as our example. It was one of my favorites. We added some trumpet in to augment the whistled part.
posted by cubby at 11:38 AM on June 17, 2011 [1 favorite]

HOLY MOLEY THANK YOU.


I heard this on the radio years ago, and loved it so, so much. I've told people about it, but couldn't recall the compilation it was on.

YAY!
posted by louche mustachio at 11:40 AM on June 17, 2011

Dammit. This tune has been a secret mixtape weapon of mine for years (I even included it on a MeFi swap). Now everyone knows it!
posted by klangklangston at 12:27 PM on June 17, 2011