O Canada Totally Explained

Everything about O Canada totally explained

"O Canada" is the national anthem of Canada. The song was originally commissioned by the then Lieutenant Governor of Quebec, the Honourable Théodore Robitaille, for the 1880 St. Jean-Baptiste Day ceremony. Calixa Lavallée wrote the music, which was a setting of a patriotic poem composed by the poet and judge Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. The text was originally only in French.
An English translation of the lyric didn't appear until 1906, and it was two more years before Robert Stanley Weir penned an English version, which isn't a translation of the French. Weir's words have been revised twice, taking their present form in 1980, but the French lyrics remain unaltered. "O Canada" wasn't officially Canada's national anthem until 1980, when it was signed into law on July 1 as part of that year's Canada Day celebrations.

Official lyrics

The official lyrics in English and French, as well as a translation of the French version and a transcription of Weir's original English-language poem, can be found on the Canadian government website devoted to "Ceremonial and Canadian Symbols Promotion".
   Since 1867, "God Save the King" and "The Maple Leaf Forever" had been competing as unofficial national anthems in Canada. "O Canada" joined that fray when school children sang it for the 1901 tour of Canada by the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall (later King George V and Queen Mary). Five years later Whaley and Royce in Toronto published the music with the French text and a first translation into English by Dr. Thomas Bedford Richardson. Then, in 1908, Collier's Weekly magazine held a competition to write English lyrics for "O Canada". The competition was won by Mercy E. Powell McCulloch, but her version didn't gain wide acceptance. In 1917, Albert Watson wrote the hymn Lord of the Lands to the tune of O Canada.
   The English version that gained the widest currency was written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir, a lawyer and at the time Recorder of the City of Montreal. A slightly modified version of his poem was published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and gradually became the most generally accepted and performed version, winning out over the alternatives by the 1960s. "God Save the Queen" is now Canada's royal anthem, while "The Maple Leaf Forever" is virtually forgotten.
   Many have noted that the opening theme of "O Canada", composed in c. 1880, bears a great resemblance to the "Marsch der Priester" (March of the Priests), from Die Zauberflöte, composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Some say that Mozart's tune inspired Lavallée to compose his melody. The line "The True North strong and free" is based on Alfred Tennyson's description of Canada as "That True North whereof we lately heard". In the context of Tennyson's poem, "true" means "loyal" or "faithful".
   Two provinces have adopted Latin translations of phrases from the English lyrics as their mottos: Manitoba—Gloriosus et liber (glorious and free)—and Alberta —Fortis et liber (strong and free). Similarly, the motto of Canadian Forces Land Force Command is Vigilamus pro te (we stand on guard for thee).
   Three additional verses exist, but these are rarely sung.
   O Canada! Where pines and maples grow,
Great prairies spread and Lordly rivers flow!
How dear to us thy broad domain,
From East to Western sea!
The land of hope for all who toil,
The true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
   O Canada! Beneath thy shining skies,
May Stalwart sons, and gentle maidens rise.
To keep thee steadfast thro' the years,
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land,
Our true North strong and free!
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
   Ruler supreme, who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our Dominion, in thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in thee,
A lasting rich reward.
As waiting for the better day,
We ever stand on guard.
God keep our land, glorious and free.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!

Performances

Singers at public events often mix the English and French lyrics to represent Canada's linguistic duality. For example, one form is singing the first two and last three lines in English; the last two lines could also alternate between English and French. Roger Doucet, the former singer of national anthems at the Montreal Forum for the NHL's Montreal Canadiens, almost always sang the first seven lines in French, and completed the song in English, and this practice has continued with the team's subsequent anthem singers. Performers at Ottawa Senators games also commonly sing partly in French and partly in English. This was also the case at the Turin Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony where most of the song was sung in French by British Columbia Opera star Ben Heppner.
Both "O Canada" and "The Star-Spangled Banner" are routinely played before sporting events between American and Canadian teams; the host nation's anthem is played last. However, "O Canada" is normally performed entirely in English during these occasions, with the aforementioned exceptions of games in Ottawa and Montreal, and on rare occasions, when Rene Rancourt performs "O Canada" in French and English, just as Roger Doucet did in Montreal, when a Canadian-origin NHL team plays against the Boston Bruins NHL ice hockey team, at the Bruins' home stadium, the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston. Some NASCAR races in Canada and the Northern United States, as well as NFL teams residing and other team sports played near the border, frequently do the same because of significant fan bases in both countries. In the NHL, Buffalo Sabres home games are preceded by the American and Canadian national anthems as a matter of policy. New Hampshire International Speedway is another notable example. Airshows on both sides of the border also usually play both anthems, as there are usually participants from both countries. At a Calgary Flames game in February of 2007, young Cree singer Akina Shirt became the first person ever to perform "O Canada" in a Canadian Aboriginal language at a National Hockey League contest.

Proposed changes to lyrics

The English version of the anthem has been criticized, by feminists such as Senator Vivienne Poy, as being sexist. In 2002, she introduced a bill to change the phrase "in all thy sons command" to "in all of us command". In 2006, the anthem's religious references (to God in English, and to the Christian cross in French) were criticized by secularists.
Weir's original 1908 lyrics, consisting of three verses, were not gender specific (using the somewhat archaic "thou dost in us command"), and contained no religious reference. Weir changed the lyrics to "in all thy sons command" in 1914, and in 1926 added a fourth verse of a religious nature.
In June 1990, the city council of Toronto voted 12-7 to change the words of the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada”, because they thought the words were offensive to immigrants. They voted to change "our home and native land", to "our home and cherished land". It is not, however, within the power of Toronto city council to change the words of the national anthem.

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