60th Birthday Surprise
March 9, 2014 6:10 PM   Subscribe

Woman exits elevator on her 60th birthday and is given a lovely surprise.

The woman is long-time children's choir director Þórunn Björnsdóttir and the people singing are some of her former students. This is inside the Harpa concert hall in Reykjavík.
posted by Kattullus (26 comments total) 33 users marked this as a favorite
 
Very sweet, very sweet.
posted by vrakatar at 6:25 PM on March 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


I want to live in Iceland.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 6:32 PM on March 9, 2014 [6 favorites]


Bravo!
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:42 PM on March 9, 2014


Oh god, somebody take that baby off her hands, if you're going to sing another verse!
posted by bicyclefish at 6:49 PM on March 9, 2014 [6 favorites]


That's not the song I would expect to celebrate someone's birthday -- and career -- with.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:20 PM on March 9, 2014


I was wondering if it was her favourite song.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:29 PM on March 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


I kept hearing "Hello darkness my old friend..."
posted by cashman at 8:32 PM on March 9, 2014 [1 favorite]


WOW! Very cool. I'll probably just drop dead on my 60th. It's OK, it takes all kinds.
posted by InsertNiftyNameHere at 8:38 PM on March 9, 2014 [2 favorites]


Granting that If They Say It On Metafilter It's So, the video doesn't have any description on YouTube. From whence comes the provenance?
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:59 PM on March 9, 2014


That was beautiful. I love how many of her former students brought their own small children along.
posted by fshgrl at 9:07 PM on March 9, 2014 [3 favorites]


I really liked that! Thank you! It made me tear up.

It's especially really nice to see a surprise singing video that's very personal and meaningful instead of just kind of disruptive and pushy. I enjoyed this very much, thank you again for posting it.
posted by Mrs. Pterodactyl at 9:11 PM on March 9, 2014 [4 favorites]


Beautiful! What an amazing gift to her. Thanks for posting this.
posted by Majorita at 9:21 PM on March 9, 2014


Isn't that just about everyone in Iceland?
posted by dhartung at 12:27 AM on March 10, 2014 [5 favorites]


By the third verse, I'd be thinking "Oh, for fuck's sake. There had better be alcohol and a designated driver in this deal."
posted by pracowity at 12:38 AM on March 10, 2014


Oh, that was lovely. Watching it before reading the "more inside," my first thought was "this is a choir teacher and this is her choir." And it must be a favorite song or a song she has them all sing. What a wonderful show of love.

Also, Iceland continues to seem like the planet of Impossibly Attractive People.
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:47 AM on March 10, 2014


That was really nice. Funny coincidence; I myself am one of her former choir students.
posted by aldurtregi at 1:55 AM on March 10, 2014 [23 favorites]


Shmuel510: From whence comes the provenance?

People in Iceland where sharing it on Facebook. I don't think there's been anything written about it in English, but there was a report on it on an Icelandic newssite where they link to a slightly different video (I think it's a rough cut of the one I linked to). The Google translation is pretty good (though it "translates" Þórunn Björnsdóttir name into "Anspach" and "Thor" in different places, but not always).
posted by Kattullus at 3:13 AM on March 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


dhartung: Isn't that just about everyone in Iceland?

If it is, then my whole existence is a lie. I saw only two people that I've met in that crowd.

posted by Kattullus at 4:03 AM on March 10, 2014 [10 favorites]


That was sweet. I'd forgotten how much I love that song, too.
posted by Thorzdad at 4:33 AM on March 10, 2014


Thorzdad: I'd forgotten how much I love that song, too.

I first met my girlfriend in Harpa. She's currently living in Finland (but only for another six weeks, thank goodness) and to hear a group of people coming together on such a lovely occasion in Harpa to sing a song about missing your significant other had me just about on the verge of blubbing.

Strong men also cry... strong men also cry.

posted by Kattullus at 5:47 AM on March 10, 2014 [3 favorites]


So nice!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 7:28 AM on March 10, 2014


I saw this before reading the more inside and was thinking if this was a generic flash mob that showed up for me I'd be miserable they weren't people who meant something to me. But knowing they're her former students makes it really sweet. I also like that it isn't some elaborate dance routine. Just a lot of love.
posted by Dragonness at 7:43 AM on March 10, 2014 [2 favorites]


Happy tears! So great. Thank you for sharing.
posted by spindrifter at 10:57 AM on March 10, 2014


What Dragonness said. In fact, kudos to the OP for underselling the front-page post.
posted by chrominance at 4:32 PM on March 10, 2014 [1 favorite]


LOL, I cried all through that! I get verklempt too easily! That really was a "lovely surprise".
posted by Grlnxtdr at 6:01 PM on March 10, 2014


That was just wonderful.
posted by dilettante at 6:40 PM on March 10, 2014


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