English O Canada lyrics have never been static, musicologist says

TORONTO — Changing the lyrics of a national anthem is often considered taboo, but Chantal Kreviazuk’s tweak to the words of O Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off Final in Boston on Thursday night may have struck a different chord, says a musicologist.

When the Winnipeg-born singer took the mic ahead of the game, she changed the line “True patriot love in all of us command” to “True patriot love that only us command” to push back against U.S. President Donald Trump’s calls to annex Canada.

“I was singing for our pride, for our honour, our sovereignty, our history — the good, the bad — and the future,” she told The Canadian Press in a phone interview shortly after the game.

The performance was booed by the mostly American audience, a reaction that has become commonplace at sports games as tensions between the U.S. and Canada ratchet up. In particular, the 4 Nations Face-Off, which pits Finland, Sweden, Canada and the U.S. against one another in a series of seven games, has served as a microcosm of international relations this year.

Robin Elliott, a musicology professor at the University of Toronto, said there’s usually a lot of pushback when artists change how they sing the anthem, in part because the anthem is seen as a symbol of patriotism.

“Because of the moment that we’re going through with the United States right now and Chantal’s expression of patriotism being the intention in changing the lyrics, I think Canadians are prepared to give this a pass,” he said Friday.

“I thought it was an honest response to the situation right now.”

Elliott noted that the lyrics to O Canada have always been somewhat fluid.

WHEN WAS O CANADA WRITTEN?

O Canada was composed in French for Saint Jean Baptiste Day in 1880. The music is by Calixa Lavallée and the lyrics are by Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier.

The song gained popularity in English-speaking Canada when the then-Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, who would later become King George V and Queen Mary, toured Canada in 1901, according to Canadian Heritage.

The federal agency says there were initially many English translations of the tune. Robert Stanley Weir’s 1908 version of the song emerged as the most popular, and served as the basis for the official English lyrics.

WHEN DID O CANADA BECOME THE NATIONAL ANTHEM?

A Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons approved the song as Canada’s national anthem during the Centennial Year, 1967, but it wasn’t enshrined in law until 1980 when the National Anthem Act was passed.

HAVE THE LYRICS STAYED THE SAME?

Weir’s English lyrics changed a little bit when they were enshrined in law, per Canadian Heritage, and they were most recently altered in 2018.

In a move toward gender parity, “True patriot love in all thy sons command” became “True patriot love in all of us command.”

The French lyrics, which don’t include any reference to gender, remain unchanged from the original in 1880.

There are also individual cases of singers changing the lyrics to the song. Two years ago — almost to the day — Jully Black sang O Canada at the NBA All-Star Game in Salt Lake City, Utah.

The R&B singer swapped out one word in the anthem’s usual opening line, changing “O Canada! Our home and native land!” to “O Canada! Our home on native land” to recognize the Indigenous Peoples who lived on the land before European settlers.

The move was divisive. She was honoured by the Assembly of First Nations in Ottawa months later for making the change, but she also spoke out about racist messages she received in response.

HOW DID KREVIAZUK CHANGE THE LYRICS?

In addition to changing the lyrics in the first verse to highlight Canada’s sovereignty, Kreviazuk broke form from the official bilingual version of the song, which begins in English and then switches to French for the middle verse before concluding in English.

Kreviazuk sang the first two lines in French and switched to English in the middle of the first verse. She didn’t return to the French lyrics.

Kreviazuk’s rendition received some criticism on social media, though most of it was related to the performance rather than the lyric change.

“My voice probably sounded not as stable, and it was because it made me so emotional,” Kreviazuk said by phone.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 21, 2025.

Nicole Thompson, The Canadian Press