Tradesman delights senior living residents with stunning cover of Paul Simon's 'You can call me Al'

When a tradesperson arrived at a local care home, they were only supposed to lay some flooring. Instead, with the aid of a karaoke machine and some classic songs, they wound up spreading plenty of unexpected joy—first in person and later online, where one of these impromptu performance went viral.

On TikTok, using the perfectly accurate handle "jaythesingingfloorlayer," the musician shared a handful of clips of these on-the-job performances. The first was a smooth rendition of The Temptations’ 1964 classic "My Girl," but the biggest head-turner was a sprightly take on Paul Simon's 1986 hit "You Can Call Me Al." Jay’s voice is genuinely soulful, and it’s hard not to be moved by the residents dancing and quietly singing along.

Jay, the Singing Floor Layer becomes a karaoke regular

"There’s no better feeling [than] taking some time out of your day to make people smile, and what better way to do it [than] with music?" Jay wrote in the video’s caption. "It all started with me fitting [their] flooring. I was passing through with my tools when they [were] having a [Valentine’s Day] party. The next thing I knew, I was up on [their] karaoke singing to them. I went back a few weeks later to do some more flooring and had noticed they had got the karaoke out again, so here I am again singing to them."

Jay wrote that they've since been back five times to do flooring, and each time the staff broke out the karaoke. "I even took my guitar and cake for them to share," they added. "I hope this inspires more tradesmen to do the same when they find [themselves] working in these type of places. Even if you don’t sing, just take a bit of your time to speak to the older generation. I can only imagine how lonely it must be for some of them, and if I ever end up in a home, I hope someone would take time out for me."

They also answered some burning questions in the comments. One person asked if Jay lays flooring before after these karaoke sets. The singer replied, "Before or sometimes in between," adding a laugh emoji. Someone else added, "If the man coming to fix the floor in my classroom today doesn’t join sing the Christmas songs with us now, I’m going to be hugely disappointed." Jay fired back, "If he doesn’t you have the wrong guy 🙃."

The comments are genuinely lovely, as people comment both on Jay’s lovely gesture and vocal talents. Actor-director Natalie Morales even chimed in, saying, "But your voice is SO GOOD."

- YouTube www.youtube.com

"Telling my kids this was Paul Simon"

Here are some of the other top replies:

"Do you take bookings for weddings? As the groom? 😆"

"I am the activities director at a senior community. Every time we do karaoke our maintenance man sings for us. He has the best voice, like Michael Buble. The residents LOVE when he sings. Thanks for singing for these people, you brightened their day. You have a great voice."

"thanks man. my dad has Alzheimer's and music is the only connection we really have left. he doesn't know my name but we can still sing songs together"

"Ok so instead of scrolling dating sites, I need to go to retirement homes! Got it! 🔥😊"

"This is one of the best videos I’ve seen In a very long time"

"I work in care and honestly this would make so many people’s days! Good job sir!! 🤍"

"Is it socially awkward to tip the flooring installation guy? And to book him even if we don’t need flooring?? Asking for a friend. 😂"

"Telling my kids this was Paul Simon"

On a related note, Upworthy writer Cecily Knobler recently wrote about a profound karaoke experience at a senior living facility in Dallas, where an 85-year-old resident delivered a particularly moving version of Fleetwood Mac’s eternal ballad "Landslide."

- YouTube www.youtube.com