Whistle For The Choir | Chords + Lyrics
Intro
| E | E | G#m | G#m Gm |
| F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
Verse 1
| E | E |
Well, it’s a big, big city and it’s always the same. Can never
| G#m | G#m Gm |
be too pretty, tell me your name, is it
| F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
out of line, if I was to be bold and say would you be mine?
Verse 2
Because I may be a beggar and you may be the queen,
I know I may be on a downer I’m still ready to dream, though it’s
3 o’clock, the time is just the time it takes for you to talk.
Chorus 1
| E | E |
So if you’re lonely why’d you say you’re not lonely.
| G#m | G#m Gm |
Oh, you’re a silly girl, I know I heard it so,
| F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
it’s just like you to come and go.
| E | E |
You know me, no you don’t even know me,
| G#m | G#m Gm |
you’re so sweet to try, oh my, you caught my eye,
| F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
a girl like you’s just irresistible.
Instrumental
| E | E | G#m | G#m Gm |
| F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
Verse 3
Well, it’s a big, big city and the lights are all out,
but it’s as much as I can do you know to figure you out.
And I must confess, my heart’s in broken pieces, and my head’s a mess.
Verse 4
And it’s 4 in the morning, and I’m walking along,
beside the ghost of every drinker here who’s ever done wrong.
And it’s you, woo-hoo, that’s got me going crazy for the things you do.
Chorus 2
So if you’re crazy, I don’t care, you amaze me,
oh you’re a stupid girl, oh me, oh my, you talk,
I die, you smile, you laugh, I cry.
And only, a girl like you could be lonely,
and it’s a crying shame if you would think the same,
a boy like me is just irresistible.
Solo
| D | D | F#m | F#m Fm | Em | Em | A | B7 |
| E | E | G#m | G#m Gm | F#m | F#m | B7 | B7 |
Chorus 3
So if you’re lonely, why’d you say you’re not lonely,
oh you’re a silly girl, I know I heard it so,
it’s just like you to come and go.
And know me, no you don’t even know me,
you’re so sweet to try, oh my, you caught my eye,
a girl like you’s just irresistible.
Whistle For The Choir | Chords + Lyrics (key of A)
Intro
| A | A | C#m | C#m Cm |
| Bm | Bm | E | E7 |
Verse 1
| A | A |
Well, it’s a big, big city and it’s always the same.
| C#m | C#m Cm |
Can never be too pretty, tell me your name,
| Bm | Bm | E | E7 |
is it out, of line, if I was to be bold and say would you be mine?
Verse 2
Because I may be a beggar and you may be the queen,
I know I may be on a downer I’m still ready to dream,
though it’s 3 o’clock, the time is just the time it takes for you to talk.
Chorus 1
| A | A | C#m | C#m Cm |
So if you’re lonely why’d you say you’re not lonely. Oh you’re a silly
| Bm | Bm | E | E7 |
girl, I know I heard it so, it’s just like you to come and go.
| A | A | C#m | C#m Cm |
You know me, no you don’t even know me, you’re so sweet to
| Bm | Bm | E | E7 |
try, oh my, you caught my eye, a girl like you’s just irresistible.
Instrumental
| A | A | C#m | C#m Cm |
| Bm | Bm | E | E7 |
Verse 3
Well, it’s a big, big city and the lights are all out,
but it’s as much as I can do you know I figure you out.
And I must confess, my heart’s in broken pieces, and my head’s a mess.
Verse 4
And it’s 4 in the morning, and I’m walking along,
beside the ghost of every drinker here who’s ever done wrong.
And it’s you, woo-hoo, that’s got me going crazy for the things you do.
Chorus 2
So if you’re crazy, I don’t care, you amaze me, oh you’re a stupid
girl, oh me, oh my, you talk, I die, you smile, you laugh, I cry.
And only, a girl like you could be lonely, and it’s a crying
shame if you would think the same, a boy like me is just irresistible.
Solo
| G | G | Bm | Bm Bbm | Am | Am | Dsus2/A | (Eb7) E7 |
La, la, la, la…
| Aadd9 | Aadd9 | C#m7 | C#m7 | Bm | Bm | E7 | E7 |
Chorus 3
So if you’re lonely, why’d you say you’re not lonely, oh you’re a silly
girl, I know I heard it so, it’s just like you to come and go.
And know me, no you don’t even know me, you’re so sweet to
try oh my, you caught my eye, a girl like you’s just irresistible.
Whistle For The Choir Chords: Learn the progressions
The Fratellis‘ Whistle For The Choir is in the key of E, using a great diatonic four-chord progression for all sections.
The acoustic guitar part is played using an alternating bass line. Over E, play E and E/B, for G#m, play G#m and G#m/D#, etc.
I felt this was best understood, rather than written out as it becomes so cluttered.
The solo is the same chord progression but down a tone.
When I play this with a female singer, we have to be in the key of A (you’ll find this version above as well).
Changing the key for the female version puts you in the key of G and now you’re playing Whistel For The Choir in four keys, getting a great workout.
Here’s a chord chart in the key of E.
Here’s the same chart, but now in the key of A.
Whistle For The Choir Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download these charts, here’s a PDF: Whistle For The Choir Chart PDF. This is the same chart, now in the key of A: Whistle For The Choir Chart (key of A) PDF.
This chart was created using iRealPro, here’s a link to that file: Whistle For The Choir. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key to A or whatever you like!
In the course, we look at TAB and play along to loops to learn Whistle For The Choir in lots of keys, below is a preview.
Whistle For The Choir TAB | Course Preview
Members practice the chord progression in all five shapes, getting a great barre chord workout.
Check the play-along TAB video above as a preview of what learning with Spytunes is like.
Here’s the example/exercise as an image as well.
The Solo moves down a tone to start on a D chord before it goes back up again as we start singing in the original key. Because of this, you get exercises for this as well.
If you thought of the progression as I – III – II – V, when playing in E, this will help when playing in A. As we play the solo in G, again, it’s still just I – III – II – V.
Thinking in Roman Numerals is a great start, however, when changing the key, we can’t just simply change the chords and play the same parts. This is why we practice all exercises in all four keys.
All chord shapes will lend themselves to strumming and alternating that bass in different ways, especially when it’s a one-guitar arrangement.
Just imagine if you did this to every song you came across, you’d be so good at playing the CAGED chords all over the neck!
Here’s a link to the 8 step-by-step guitar lessons: Whistle For The Choir – Guitar Lessons with TAB.
Costello music sold over 1 million copies!
Scottish indie rockers The Fratellis released their debut album, Costello Music in 2006, it reached #2 on the U.K. charts and sold over 1 million copies with some international success as well.
Three great tunes can be found on the record, Chelsea Dagger, Henrietta, and what you saw above with chords and lyrics, Whistle For The Choir.
For party bands, Chelsea Dagger is the one that stuck, I always thought Whistle For The Choir was the strongest as I recorded my Spytunes version back in 2008.
Following the debut, the band released a couple of EPs, a DVD and then another album in 2008 called Here We Stand, it was a flop, leading the band to break up.
In 2013 they reunited to release We Need Medicine, Eyes Wide, Tounge Tiied (2015), In Your Own Sweet Time (2018), and Half Drunk Under A Full Moon (2021).
None of these albums had tunes that connected with the audience in the same way as those three aforementioned debut album tunes.
Whistle For The Choir Chords | Related Pages
Whistle For The Choir | 8 Step-by-step Guitar Lessons + TAB
Before you learn how to play Whistle For The Choir, there are a series of CAGED fretting exercises to complete.
This is essential since the song may only have four chords, but we play it in four keys, all over the neck, with two different singers.
Five similar tunes | Chords + Lyrics
The Fratellis tunes
The Fratellis shot to fame in late 2006, and mainly 2007 when they had three successful singles from their debut album Costello Music.
Since their debut, The Fratellis have continued to gather new fans around the UK with their blues-influenced pop songs.
The Fratellis on the web
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was a guitar lesson about Whistle For The Choir chords, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and how you can learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
