'Breathy' female vocals, for example, were identified as having their own subset, into which fell a number of French singers. The Whisper Song is an explicit affair, but rather than seductive, the whispering is disturbing, threatening almost.Ī side topic of debate on the blog this week sought to classify the various grades of low-speaking. (Furniture upholstery, for example.) Fifteen years later the Ying Yang Twins explored similar territory, though they choose straight away to dispense with any subtlety. Comprised largely of three elements – a hip-hop beat, a wave of synthesizer and Madonna's smoky vocals – the lyrics themselves are not particularly crude, but the mood of the song leaves you in no doubt that something is going on and it probably involves leather.

Let us turn first to Justify My Love, a song almost as controversial on its release in 1990 as it was best-selling. And they're sensual too, which puts an Oedipal spin on matters that I would rather not have to contemplate. Whispers aren't gentle, they're menacing.

Yes, for children a whisper may be gentle and soothing, but for adults the whole thing is switched around. Turns out, not for the first time, I could not have been more naive. P erhaps as a result of one too many nights spent demanding that my mother mop my brow and calm my fevered thoughts, I have always believed the whisper to be a consoling sound.

Whisperings music