“I Whistle a Happy Tune” a Song in a Singable Picture Book

Posted by: Sing Books with Emily on: April 8, 2011

• In: Art of Singing a Song | Cabaret | Case for Singable Books | Heartfelt Musings | Lyrics | SBWE in Person | Sing Along Tracks | Sing Books with Emily - the Cabaret | Singable Book Title | Singable Picture Book Video | Song History | Vocal Tracks
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“I Whistle a Happy Tune”  is another of the fabulous songs included in,

Getting to Know You
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 2002
ISBN 0-06-626845-5

Getting to Know You contains illustrations and lyrics for 16 Rogers and Hammerstein songs.  The book features thoughts from the children of Rogers and Hammerstein, Mary Rogers and William Hammerstein, and from the illustrator Rosemary Wells, articulating the importance and social relevance of Singable Picture Books.

Though Getting to Know You is a wonderful book for introducing children to the world and songs of Rodgers and Hammerstein as well as treasures of the American Songbook and American Musical Theatre, the book does not include a full treatment for every song.

With “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” only a portion of the song lyrics are represented:

I Whistle a Happy Tune
Excerpt
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the Musical “The King and I”

Whenever I feel afraid
I hold my head erect
And whistle a happy tune,
So no one will suspect I’m afraid.

The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell,
For when I fool the people I fear
I fool myself as well!

I whistle a happy tune,
And every single time
The happiness in my tune
Convinces me that I’m not afraid!

Make believe you’re brave
And the trick will take you far;
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are.

Oh, but what wonderful words these are to soothe the fears of a child (or anyone!) facing a challenge and if we just get a portion of the song in the book, then it sure is better than nothing!

The best sing-along track, in my opinion, for this song is found on the CD that comes with,

Solos from Musicals for Kids
Music and Lyrics by Various Artists
Compiled by Louise Lerch
ISBN 978-0-7935-8227-3
Sheet music for “I Whistle a Happy Tune” is on p. 27, instrumental sing-along is on Track 17

Here are the complete lyrics:

I Whistle a Happy Tune
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the Musical “The King and I”

Whenever I feel afraid
I hold my head erect
And whistle a happy tune
So no one will suspect
I’m Afraid.

While shivering in my shoes
I strike a careless pose
And whistle a happy tune
And no one ever knows I’m afraid.

The result of this deception
Is very strange to tell
For when I fool the people I fear
I fool myself as well!

I whistle a happy tune
And ev’ry single time
The happiness in the tune
Convinces me that I’m not afraid.

Make believe you’re brave
And the trick will take you far.
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are.

(Whistle these lyrics: “Make believe you’re brave
And the trick will take you far“)
You may be as brave
As you make believe you are!

“I Whistle a Happy Tune” was written by Rodgers and Hammerstein for the musical 1951 Broadway musical “The King and I,”

“The King and I,” was made into a film in 1956 starring Yul Brenner and Deborah Kerr,

An interesting Wikipedia article about “The King and I,” here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I
This article contains story synopsis information, historical information about the true-life people who inspired the characters, and info about the performers and writers who made the characters famous.

The first song in this excerpt from the movie “The King and I” is “I Whistle a Happy Tune” as sung by Deborah Kerr:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnBxiWPvMBU

You can sing-along with an instrumental track and lyrics in this video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq3co1VFL9Q

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As a cabaret singer, my artistic sensibility mostly steers me towards comedy and long wordy story songs (I really do LOVE to tell stories).  Singable Picture Books have introduced and given me the opportunity and inspiration to sing songs that I would otherwise not have considered for myselft.
“I Whistle a Happy Tune” is one of those.

I found it in “Getting to Know You” a terrific Singalbe Picture Book Illustrated by Rosemary Wells (you might be familiar with her artwork from the show “Max and Ruby”).  This book contains all or segments of 16 Rodgers and Hammerstein songs, and it includes a songbook with their melodies.

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I Whistle a Happy Tune from

Getting to Know You
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
Illustrated by Rosemary Wells
Published by HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, 2002
ISBN 0-06-626845-5

The only irksome aspect of the book are the song segments, offering only partial lyrics for some of the songs.  This makes sense with a song like “The Surrey with the Fringe on Top” (though I would hardily argue that point since “Surrey” is a song which is so loaded with wonderful words that I would never cast a vote to shorten it) but the publishers, in my humble opinion, unnessisarily trunkated “I Whistle a Happy Tune” by removing just one verse…and it is such a wonderful verse.

Thanks to “Getting to Know You ,” however, I relish every opportunity to sing “I Whistle a Happy Tune,” and have created a poster card that is illustrated with artwork by some of the wonderful kids I get to sing with at Tuckahoe Elementary School in Arlington, VA.

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I Whistle a Happy Tune (second verse poster card)
Words by Oscar Hammerstein II
Music by Richard Rodgers
From the Musical THE KIND AND I
Illustarted with Artwork by Students at Tuckahoe Elementary
To view or print this card, click this link:
whistle second verse card

For my copy of this card, I printed a page for each, set the backs of the pages together and laminated them to create a two sided laminated card.  You can use it when singing along with the book.

Just another little hint for the song:
When I get to the whistling part, I use a kazoo.  My whistling skills stink, but I can kazoo with the best of ‘em.  Plus, kids thing the kazoo is funny!

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I’m thrilled to write that “I Whitle a Happy Tune” is one of the songs we selected to be part of
“Oh, What a Beautiful Day: Sing Books with Emily, the Cabaret.”

I make a strong committment to each song I perform and completing my Song Craft Worksheet is part of that process,

 Emily’s Song Craft Worksheet

Because the first section of the Song Craft Worksheet involves background research on the song, I’ll share the answers with you so you can know about the song, too.  The more about the song you know (both concrete facts and less tangible artistic choices), the more “authority,” and heart and soul you can put into the singing and sharing of the song with others.  If you are interested in improving your artistic abilities for singing songs in any capacity, just simply filling out the Song Craft Worksheet is a great place to start!  After the background research, the rest of the Song Craft Worksheet gets VERY personal…don’t worry!  I won’t bore you with that.

1 Q: Who wrote the words?
1 A: Oscar Hammerstein II

2Q: Who wrote the music?
2A: Richard Rodgers

3Q: When was the song written?
3A: 1951

4Q: At what point in the lyricists’ and composer’s career was the song written?
4A: Middle

5Q: What is the song from?
5A: The great American musical “The King and I”

6Q: If from a show, what character sang it?
6A: Anna (the school teacher going to tutor the King’s children) and her son Louis

7Q: If from a show, from what situation does the song arise?  Why does the character sing the song?  What function does the song/character play in the story?
7A: The son is fearful and worried about how to deal with his new life in a far off land and his mother offers this idea for how he can feel better and face and unknown situation.

8Q:  What other contextual elements of the song are significant?
8A: I think this is a wonderful song not just for the great music and words by great American Songwriters for a great American Musical, but it is also very good advice!  I think lots of times kids find themselves in new and confusing situations and this song offers some solid advice for how to face fear.  I think every kid should learn this song and learn to practice the technique is suggests.  I sure wish someone had taught it to me when I was little!

9Q: Was the song written for a particular singer?  Why?
9A: This song was written for the characters in the show.

10Q: If not from a show, why did the songwriter write the song?
10A: NA

11Q: What do you feel the lyricist is trying to say?
11A: The Power of Positive Thinking! and FAKE IT ‘TIL YOU MAKE IT!

12Q: Does the song tell a story or just express feelings or ideas?
12A: This song expressed IDEAS for how to deal with your feelings!

13Q: Who else has recorded this song:
13A: Gertrude Lawrence, Deborah Kerr, Julie Andrews, Frank Sinatra, Andy Williams, Sue Matsuki (and many others)

The rest of the questions require VERY personal answers and I will spare you those!

Tags: Oh What a Beautiful Day Sing Books with Emily the Cabaret, Singable Picture Book