Chantal Kreviazuk, the Grammy-Award winning Canadian singer, revealed she decided in sound check to change the lyrics of ‘O Canada’ during her rendition before Thursday’s 4 Nations Face-Off championship between the United States and Canada.
This became Kreviazuk’s impromptu political statement in response to President Donald Trump’s comments about Canada becoming the 51st state of the United States, she wrote on Instagram in the aftermath of Canada’s dramatic 3-2 overtime win at TD Garden in Boston. Soon after Thursday’s pregame festivities were complete, multiple outlets confirmed Kreviazuk intentionally sang ‘that only us command’ instead of ‘in all of us command’ to protest Trump’s recent statements.
The 50-year-old singer also posted a photo on social media of the new lyrics written on the palm of her hand and explained the how and why behind her lyric choice.
‘I didn’t plan this or plot at all… I was honoured to get the gig!’ Kreviazuk wrote in part. ‘During soundcheck I sang the wrong words “in all thy sons command” out of habit and when I analyzed the new line I thought wow – this could mean something so pertinent to our country in this moment with a change in just two words, three syllables. I didn’t dream that such an effect would be had by deciding to go out there and do it. But it really felt like the right thing to do.’
The national anthems of both the United States and Canada became part of the story during the 4 Nations Face-Off, which intersected with an uptick in political tension between the two countries because of Trump’s threats to implement tariffs on Canadian imports and the 51st state rhetoric since he took office last month.
Canadian fans in Montreal loudly booed the “Star-Spangled Banner’ last Saturday when the United States beat Canada, 3-1, in round-robin action, and the game began with three fights in the opening nine seconds.
She wanted more than just the people inside TD Garden to hear her subtle lyric change.
‘In this very peculiar and potentially consequential moment i truly believe that we must stand up, use our voices and try to protect ourselves,’ Kreviazuk wrote on Instagram. ‘We should express our outrage in the face of any abuses of power. I was raised in part by music that was inspired by brave voices committed to peaceful conflict resolution. Canada, not unlike Ukraine is a sovereign nation. Period.’
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