Changing the Lyrics to O Canada... again

[Gordon Nore]

This odd little news item caught my eye this morning over coffee. The current government is considering a change to Canada's national anthem, O Canada.

OTTAWA—Three days after Canadians belted out “O Canada” to celebrate the nation’s Olympic hockey win, Stephen Harper’s Conservatives are asking whether the anthem should be changed.
The phrase “In all thy sons command” has some women calling for a gender-neutral version, Industry Minister Tony Clement says, citing an email from a constituent.
“For 50 years ..... I’ve listened to our anthem and felt excluded by the line,” Tina Prietz, 60, of Huntsville, Ont., wrote to Clement. “Yes, you’ve guessed it, I’m female.”
The Conservative government said in Wednesday’s throne speech it will ask Parliament to examine the original wording of the anthem. Officials said later a parliamentary committee will study whether the phrase “In all thy sons command” should be changed to “Thou dost in us command,” which the Prime Minister’s Office says is the wording from the original version.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/...atives-eye-new-lyrics-for-our-national-anthem

This is actually the second time in my life that the English lyrics will have been changed. Back in the early eighties, the refrain was altered...

O Canada
glorious and free

to

God keep our land
glorious and free

Actually, that seemed a strange change to me for the times, and that I stopped singing the anthem aloud.

Various revision discussed here in this Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_canada

 

[Blade96]

and I never said the word 'god' every time i ever sang the anthem, because I'm agnostic.

 

[Ken Morgan]

and I never said the word 'god' every time i ever sang the anthem, because I'm agnostic.

Yeah PET changed it back then. I refuse to sing that particular line. In fact it should be removed completely. Which means if they are trying to get rid of everything in it that gives offence to anyone, we shouldn't have an anthem at all!

Ideally IMHO, bring back the original version, and alternate the verses between French and English.

 

[Carol]

Wow.

Just go back to the original.

I mean, its not like it was based on a drinking song from the country you revolted against, or anything like that.

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[Gordon Nore]

Yeah PET changed it back then. I refuse to sing that particular line. In fact it should be removed completely. Which means if they are trying to get rid of everything in it that gives offence to anyone, we shouldn't have an anthem at all!

Adding the reference to God seemed strange to me for the early eighties. It seemed like a step away from the separation of Church and State. I could understand if that line were a part of an earlier version. I also felt at the time and still feel now that if there is a God, S/he has loftier things to attend to than keeping Canada "glorious and free."

This "dost" business is kind of funny. Making the anthem more gender inclusive by resorting to arcane language is an interesting choice. I'm trying to picture how teachers in my school will explain that one to Kindergarten and grade one.

On that topic, such a change means that existing recordings of O Canada have to be trashed. When I was growing up, schools typically had an old scratchy LP of the anthem.

Interest in O Canada spread after Canadian embassy officials in Iran helped US embassy staff escape Tehran to Canada in what was dubbed as the Canadian caper of 1980. US radio DJs were getting requests from listeners to play O Canada on the air as a way of expressing gratitude.

Turns out there really wasn't an official recording of the song, and many versions were not terribly exciting or well produced. A group of musicians recorded two tracks of the anthem: one contemporary; one traditional. A number of recordings have been made since. In fact, in every school I've worked in the office has several good-quality recordings, some instrumental, some bilingual, which they rotate from day to day.