MY WHISTLING DAD
(Hali Hammer)

MyDad worked all day in a women’s clothing shop
Once in a while when I was little, he’d take me to his job
Where they’d all fuss over me, and I’d show them the toys
That I brought to keep me company when the grownups were too busy

But most of the time I would stay home with my Mom
And I would hang around with her, and do the things kids do at home
But I’d keep track of the time so that when Dad would arrive
I could stand at the door so I could hear him whistle

Hey Dad, here you are a-coming up the stairs & down the hall,
I can hear you whistling all the way to our door, oh let me hear some more
Cause for sure nobody whistles any better than my Dad

When my Dad was a boy, he’d sing with his brother
And now once in a while, he’d sing something with my mother
But the way he was most blessed, and the thing that I loved best
Was the way that he could whistle anything at all

He could warble, he could trill like a bird that was a-flying
He could round a note so sweet that it almost left you crying
He could weave notes on the echoes of the ones that just took wing
And puff them out in patterns as though he were blowing smoke rings

Hey Dad, here you are a-coming up the stairs & down the hall,
I can hear you whistling all the way to our door, oh let me hear some more
Cause for sure nobody whistles any better than my Dad

Our building it was brick and the halls were made of something
That was round & sort of smooth and all covered up with paint
And I don’t know what it was, but it made for great acoustics
For the sounds that bounced out of the mouth of my whistling Dad

The building would resound like a big symphony hall
And my Dad supplied the melodies that zigged & zagged the walls
The music swelled in size till the door was opened wide
Then he’d hug me in the end, oh, what a wonderful crescendo! CHORUS