The Hills Are Alive

Just when you think you know someone… They surprise you…

The other day, there I was on MSN chatting my fingers to the bone when my friend Joe sent me a link to a music video and before I knew it, I was looking at a well accessorized nun singing her little nun heart out:

High on a hill was a lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo
Loud was the voice of the lonely goatherd
Lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo

I saw Joe last weekend, and while strolling through the city of Brussels, he would just suddenly break out into a chorus of lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo and folks in a town that was quite remote heard lay ee odl lay ee odl lay hee hoo. Yes, my yodelling Egyptian friend has been happy as a Sphinx since the all but lost art has made a rather glamorous comeback thanks to Gwen Stefani. In fact, it was all I could do to keep him from tearing down the curtains and making his very own hieroglyphically embroidered lederhosen from his own pattern. My already frail nerves which are still recovering from my near death robbery experience were quickly shot and suddenly I felt the need for a cocktail but then imagined men drinking beer with the foam afloat hearing lay ee odl lay ee odl-oo and decided against it and suggested a good dose of Julie Andrews and a good night’s sleep.

Then, my curiosity got the best of me. What, I wondered, makes one want to yodel? How did yodeling start in the first place? I realized I had no idea and not wanting my friend to go around shouting out uneducated lay hee hoos, I decided to do some research. According to Wikipedia, yodeling “was probably developed in the Swiss Alps as a method of communication between mountain peaks”. That makes sense, however I would think that with the handy little invention of the mobile phone, such a mating call would no longer be necessary. But then given the choice, I am not sure if I prefer the annoying ringtones or yodelling. Lucky for Joe’s friends, he has both so we don’t have to force our friend to give up either one...

Odl lay ee, odl lay ee
Odl lay hee hee, odl lay ee
Odl lay odl lay, odl lay odl lee, odl lay odl lee
Odl lay odl lay odl lay

HOO!