--- title: Cops Called On Man For Whistling Semisonic’s Closing Time description: Semisonic's "Closing Time" does get stuck in your head canonical: https://time.com/4585335/closing-time-cops-called/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-29T21:23:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-13T15:23:49.000Z og:title: Cops Called On Man for Whistling Semisonic’s 'Closing Time"' og:description: The song does get stuck in your head og:url: https://time.com/4585335/closing-time-cops-called/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt392e13fae874c462/6988b0008fd2ee7d28355054/gettyimages-513729462.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1728 og:image:height: 972 og:image:alt: Beer At Bill's Bar og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Cops Called On Man for Whistling Semisonic’s 'Closing Time"' twitter:description: The song does get stuck in your head twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt392e13fae874c462/6988b0008fd2ee7d28355054/gettyimages-513729462.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Woman Calls Cops After Man Won’t Stop Whistling Semisonic’s 'Closing Time' > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:23 PM UTCPublished: Nov 29, 2016 9:23 PM UTC  CHELSEA - FEBRUARY 15: Beer at Bill's Bar on February 15, 2016 in Downtown New York, NY. (Photo by Waring Abbott/Getty Images) CHELSEA - FEBRUARY 15: Beer at Bill's Bar on February 15, 2016 in Downtown New York, NY. (Photo by Waring Abbott/Getty Images) Waring Abbott&Getty Images by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Updated: Dec 13, 2023 3:23 PM UTCPublished: Nov 29, 2016 9:23 PM UTC **Correction appended, Nov. 30, 2016** When a man wouldn’t stop “obnoxiously” whistling Semisonic’s ’90s rock ballad, “Closing Time” near her house, an [Oregon](http://time.com/3176463/portland-oregon-kilt-theft/?iid=sr-link3) woman made the only logical move—she called the cops to report a [crime](http://newsfeed.time.com/2013/11/18/nerdy-bandit-robs-portland-american-apparels-but-his-real-crime-is-wearing-this-fedora/?iid=sr-link9). Police officers responded to reports of a “jack-ss guy” who wouldn’t stop whistling, according to Captain Mike Herb of the Forest Grove Police Department, who writes the department’s always entertaining weekly [police log](https://www.facebook.com/Forest-Grove-Police-100291346690128/). “It’s not clear if the caller would have been more or less upset if it was a different genre or whether it was just the talent lacking in the whistling,” Herb told TIME, with a chuckle. Whatever the reason (perhaps she just realized [what the song was about](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niz9FtJIB2Y&t=559)?), the woman was definitely not a fan of the man’s whistling, and when she told the whistler to “shut up”, a verbal altercation broke out. That’s when she [called the police](http://time.com/4518456/scary-clown-sighting-attack-craze/?iid=sr-link9). While the whistler had moved on by the time police arrived, [cops](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2090549,00.html?iid=sr-link7) still located him and, according to Herb, he was still whistling “Closing Time.” Police officers spoke to the man who said he was upset that he had been told to shut up. Cops sent him on his way, and according to the notes left by the officer in the police log, “he whistled his way back home.” Relive the song below. \[H/T [Oregonian](http://www.oregonlive.com/forest-grove/index.ssf/2016/11/forest%5Fgrove%5Fpolice%5Flog%5Fstolen%5F4.html)\] Correction: The original version of this story misidentified the Forest Grove Police Department Captain. 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