Bubbi Morthens has shelved his annual Christmas Eve concerts at Litla-Hraun, citing advancing age and the fact that a large group of inmates are no longer familiar with his music.
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“The main reason is simply that I’ve reached a point where I’m getting older. I might end up going to bed at four or five on Christmas Eve morning, then have to wake up three hours later to gather everything together to go to Litla-Hraun.”
This is what Bubbi Morthens
— a beloved figure in Icelandic music for decades — tells mbl.is. For almost the first time since 1982, inmates at Litla-Hraun prison will not get to enjoy his music during the now-legendary Christmas Eve visit to Hrauni
ð this year
— and likely not again in the future. Musicians age too, and the body is no longer as cooperative as it once was.
“When I get home, the day is basically over. I’m completely wiped out and can’t even function properly in the evening,” Bubbi continues, admitting that there are other factors involved as well.
“They don’t know my music”
“That also has an effect — and it made the decision easier — that there are now so many foreigners there. They don’t know my music, they don’t know my words or my lyrics. That also started to play a role, even though of course it’s a worthwhile effort to try to brighten their day just as much as that of Icelandic inmates. But I’ve definitely felt that this is a major change,” says Bubbi.
He is in the middle of welcoming guests when the reporter calls, but doesn’t let it throw him off and willingly gives a brief interview, as one has come to expect from the musician.
“I’ve seen this develop year by year, but when half — or even more than half — of the people don’t speak or understand Icelandic, it becomes difficult to convey what you want to convey. So there were at least two reasons behind this decision,” he says.
“I started in 1982. I missed the COVID years, and then one concert because of bad weather, but otherwise I’ve played every Christmas Eve,” he adds, noting that the prison authorities have shown full understanding of his decision.
Alcohol common at Christmas
You wrote about alcohol on Facebook yesterday, saying that with age you increasingly see how wine and beer destroy the body and health. Is that based on problems at your concerts related to intoxication?
“Sorry, I’m in the middle of an interview — come on in,” Bubbi says to his guests, who can be heard through the phone laughing and taking the reporter’s intrusion in good spirit. Then comes the answer.
“I generally don’t play where alcohol is involved — that’s just not an option. But
Þorláksmessa is fairly ‘safe’ in that sense,” Bubbi says, which is perhaps just as well, as he will be taking the stage later this evening at another annual concert that is very much still going ahead
— his traditional
Þorláksmessa concert at Harpa.
“People come there to behave well. I was mainly writing about how common alcohol is at Christmas and how awful that is,” Bubbi says. The conclusion of his post reads:
“Alcohol strips all people of their dignity, distorts them, dulls their minds
— yet the answer is always the same: yes, but I only drink on weekends, only with food, and so on. If you gathered all the beer cans of a year and all the wine bottles of a year together on a pallet outside the door, I think the body would simply start to cry.”
The musician wraps up the conversation yesterday with a promise about last night”s concert at Harpa:
“All I can say is that it’s going to be an absolute blast.”