The Canadian National Anthem, English version in part:
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of us command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!
From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee
When I was a little kid, three to four years old, I would play hockey in the kitchen. I sang the national anthem first. After all, didn’t every hockey game begin with the national anthem? I did replace a word, but not purposefully. I sang, according to my parents, “We stand on God for thee…”
But recently, at the NBA All-Star game, another word was changed, and it almost changes everything. It is very popular in Canada (though there are certainly traditionalists), and the change will likely stick—one word.
Oh Canada,
Our home ON native land.
Instead of “Oh Canada, Our home and native land.” Already, a majority of Canadians want the change made permanent. It was not planned, no notice, it just “happened” in one song on a big stage. (Video of song below)
Canada has a massive issue with its historical treatment of First Nations people. It is so bad that it is Canada’s original sin, akin to slavery. To make it worse, horrors are still being uncovered to this day. It seems like “literally” the least that Canada can do.
But can you imagine trying to pull off something similar in the United States? The screams about having our “woke” agenda shoved in people’s faces? DeSantis’s face would take on a shade of red matched only by the blood that was shed throughout Florida in his anti-vax policies. Trump would go crazy. We would hear nothing but the awfulness of “DEI” (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, the bane of the MAGAs, which – by necessity, means they favor homogeneity, Inequite, and Exclusion).
Our national anthem should be America the Beautiful. But given we use the Star Spangled Banner, a poem about one battle with the British in 1812, there will be no one-word changes that reflect anything woke. A warlike anthem for an increasingly war-like people.
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[email protected], @JasonMiciak, SUBSTACK: GLOBAL DANGERS MAKE JOE BIDEN THE WORLD’S MOST NECESSARY MAN
The ‘Star Spangled Banner’ is about a battle between wooden ships and a stone fort (well more of a skirmish thjan a real battle, but let’s have a bit of poetic license and stick it to the tune of an upper class English drinking song).
The fort guns didn’t sink any ships and the ships didn’t demolish the fort – great ‘victory’
First, I can’t stand our national anthem. It sucks. But in the 70’s there was this guy in Montreal named Roger Doucet who sang all the anthems for hockey games at the Forum and he finally changed the thing to “We stand on guard for rights and liberty” instead of the repetitively banal “for thee”. Then around 1980 when Parliament decided to codify the actual lyrics to the song for the first time (it was written in french 100 years earlier) they changed the lyrics again but didn’t incorporate Doucet’s simple yet powerful change (I mean, what the hell am I standing on guard for anyway??!!) And what is this nonsense “True patriot love in all of us command” when Calixa Lavallee’s original was the grammatically accurate (if less woke) “in all our son’s command”. Yup, Oh Canada simply sucks as a National Anthem. But adding that “on” native land? THAT I love, mostly because its so true. Sardonic, but TRUE!
I have always preferred the Canadian one bc it’s shorter, it’s more expansive, the entire arena in Edmonton sings it and it’s powerful (hard to do with ours) but also…
The only person that should be allowed to sing “Oh Canada” is Sarah McGlauchlin bc she’s at the next level as one would expect from a good Nova Scotia (born) girl.
*Americans, New Orleans is one of two centers of American music, and New Orleans benefited from a combo of the Cajun/Creole, mixed with Black blues = Jazz. In Canada, the Cajuns settled in Nova Scotia and thus Nova Scotia is noted for huge contributions to Canadian music. (That story is mostly true, maybe a detail is wrong).
Better national.anthem: “This Land is Your Land” without a,reference to.any Deity.
This is just me, but I havean idea of what I want to see in a national anthem.
1. It should have no mention of God or religion. Every citizen should be free to choose what and/or what not to believe, and no one should be compelled to respect an anthem in conflict with their beliefs. The Star Spangled Banner passes this but fails the next two.
2. It should not allude to battle or war. War may be necessary, such as if one is i=invaded, but the goal of every nation ought to be to live in peace. America the Beautiful passes this but fails the first one.
3. It should include some kind of acknowledgement that no nation is perfect, and that improvong is a constant goal and is to be supported. Certainly not necessarily as comprehensive as the full oath of office, but something that implies that a citizen’s duty is to improve the nation and an acceptance of that. America the Beautiful IMO passes this one, less in the first verse than in the second or third, I forget which – “America! America! God men thene every flaw! Confirm thy soul in self-control, the liberty in law!” But it fails the first point at the same time. This Land Is Your Land passes the first two, but fails this one.
The official lyrics of “O Canada” (the second, third, and fourth verses are not official) manages to pass all three of my desired points. (Thr fourth verse fails point 1, but as I say, it’ss not considered “official.” “We stand on guard for thee” represents a commitment, if not to improve necessarily, at least to prevent loss. That works for me.
As I said, this is purely personal. “It’s just a thought.”
Good thought.
the anthem could be updated but the facts and history are being skewed here and fo who? the natives prior to European settlement and civilization building were tribal communities that would at times work together and and others be at war or doing raiding parties on one another for resources, woman/children, and territory. They didn’t occupy and control the land in any real way that talks to a “nation” or “nations” as they like to call themselves in Canada. the USA has this a bit more on point with tribal communities. to be clear none of this is to say bad things didn’t happen over the last while but if you go back and look what was happening prior to the “bad European government and peoples” coming here its just as bad and in a lot of cases worse. it is interesting that not many talk much about the times when the tribal communities were at full war with one another and it was the Canadian government and police that worked a peaceful deal to end the blood shed between the tribes.
really at this point there shouldn’t be much reason to change the wording as anyone born on these lands is by definition a “native canadian” and so they stand on their native lands! be proud,, be united for one canada for all, and here’s to a great and amazing Canada in the future to come. if it isn’t ripped apart by the current agenda being pushed.