Random: Oslo's City Hall Is Playing The Super Mario Bros. Theme

The bells! The bells!

by Damien McFerran Mon 11th Jan 2016

The Super Mario Bros. theme has become quite famous since its inception back in 1985 - hum it to pretty much any person on the face of the planet and there's a good chance that they'll recognise it.

If you needed any more confirmation of its fame, then check out the video below. The building is Oslo City Hall in Norway, and as you can hear, its bells are chiming out Koji Kondo's iconic tune.

Mario's music isn't the only thing you'll hear coming from the building - the City Hall has a schedule that can be found here. Other notable pieces are Electricity by Motörhead and Henry Mancini's Moon River.

[source eurogamer.net]

Damien has been writing professionally about tech and video games since 2007 and oversees all of Hookshot Media's sites from an editorial perspective. He's also the editor of Time Extension, the network's newest site, which – paradoxically – is all about gaming's past glories.

1
Kimite
Mon 11th Jan 2016

I want to go to Oslo now o.o... which should be possible as I live in Norway and hopefully I will be able to listen to the Mario song if I manage to go to s con in Oslo/Lillestrøm ^^. (Not the easiest trip for just saying).

Still I hope other people who live in Oslo will be able hear the songs .

(Maybe not the best sound though, but would like to hear it as a experience).

2
Peraa
Mon 11th Jan 2016

This is so random to me. I never thought in my wildest dreams, that Oslo City Hall would play this tune. Since gaming is very looked down upon, here in Norway. But hey, I will give this a thumps up!

3
Blastcorp64
Mon 11th Jan 2016

Sadly, they'll probably be playing some David Bowie soon.

R.I.P.

4
Boerewors
Mon 11th Jan 2016

Ouch! A tune this fast must be killing Kvasimødø's back...

5
CaterpillarGuy59
Mon 11th Jan 2016

This is so weird, considering my town tune in animal crossing new leaf, is the super Mario bros theme just like this.

6
MayorPaine
Mon 11th Jan 2016

It's only a matter of time now before a country adapts the Super Mario Bros. Theme as its national anthem.

7
Spideron
Mon 11th Jan 2016

@Peraa Since when was gaming looked down upon in Norway? Been gaming here for 47 years now and never heard that before. Both FunCom and more "local" games like Flaaklypa etc. have always been praised in the press etc.

Also several schools have game-specific content: NITH in Oslo teaches gamedesign and programming, plus 3D-gfx. Noroff Fagskole has schools in Oslo, Bergen, Kristiansand, Stavanger & Trondheim that teaches 3D gamedesign over 2 years, with a third Bachelor year abroad through partners in England, Australia & South-Africa.