O Canada is the
national anthem of Canada
. The
song was originally commissioned by the 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, before it was translated to English
in 1906.
The English translation of the lyric happened two years before
Robert Stanley Weir penned an
English version, which is not 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" was not
officially Canada's national anthem until 1980, when it was signed
into law on July 1 as part of that year's
Dominion 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".
| Official (English) |
Official (French) |
Inuktitut lyrics |
O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons 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. |
Ô Canada!
Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux!
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une épopée
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits. |
ᐆ ᑲᓇᑕ! ᓇᖕᒥᓂ ᓄᓇᕗᑦ!
ᐱᖁᔭᑏ ᓇᓚᑦᑎᐊᖅᐸᕗᑦ.
ᐊᖏᒡᓕᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑎ,
ᓴᙱᔪᓗᑎᓪᓗ.
ᓇᖏᖅᐳᒍ, ᐆ ᑲᓇᑕ,
ᒥᐊᓂᕆᑉᓗᑎ.
ᐆ ᑲᓇᑕ! ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊ!
ᓇᖏᖅᐳᒍ ᒥᐊᓂᕆᑉᓗᑎ,
ᐆ ᑲᓇᑕ, ᓴᓚᒋᔭᐅᖁᓇ!
|
|
Translation of French lyrics |
Transliteration of Inuktitut lyrics |
|
O Canada!
Land of our forefathers,
Thy brow is wreathed with a glorious garland of flowers.
As in thy arm ready to wield the sword,
So also is it ready to carry the cross.
Thy history is an epic of the most brilliant exploits.
Thy valour steeped in faith
Will protect our homes and our rights
Will protect our homes and our rights. |
Uu Kanata! nangmini nunavut!
Piqujatii nalattiaqpavut.
Angiglivalliajuti,
Sanngijulutillu.
Nangiqpugu, Uu Kanata,
Mianiripluti.
Uu Kanata! nunatsia!
Nangiqpugu mianiripluti,
Uu Kanata, salagijauquna!
|
History
The house in Quebec City in which Routhier reportedly wrote the
original French lyrics
The original French lyrics were written by Sir
Adolphe Basile Routhier, as a
French Canadian patriotic song for
the
Saint-Jean-Baptiste
Society.
The French "Ô Canada" was first
performed on June 24, 1880, at a Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
banquet in Quebec
City
, but did not become Canada's official national
anthem until July 1, 1980. The Canadian government bought
the rights to the lyrics and music for only one dollar.
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 did not 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 less well-known today.
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".
Official changes to the English version were recommended in 1968 by
a Special Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Commons. The
National Anthem Act of 1980 added a religious reference to the
English lyrics and the phrase "From far and wide, O Canada" to
replace one of the somewhat tedious repetitions of the phrase "We
stand on guard." This change was controversial with
traditionalists, and for several years afterwards it was not
uncommon to hear people (some by choice, some by memory reflex)
still singing the old lyrics at public events. By contrast, the
French version has never been changed from its original. In fact,
at public events where there may be participants singing both the
French and English versions simultaneously, it is common to hear
people singing the beginning in French and then switching to the
English version, usually three or four lines before the end.
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). In addition, the official website of the Government of
Canada uses phrases from both the English and French lyrics as
mottos on its page headers—"The true north strong and free" in
English and "Une épopée des plus brillants exploits" in
French.
Historical refrain
A page from
Hymns of the Christian
Life, 1962, depicting the original refrain lyrics to
O
Canada.
The following text was used as the refrain (last three lines of the
official version) prior to the official designation as the national
anthem:
- O Canada, glorious and free,
- We stand on guard, we stand on guard for thee!
- O Canada, we stand on guard for thee!
Other lyrics
| Weir's poem has three additional stanzas, but these are rarely
sung. |
There is also a hymnal version of the lyrics, written by Albert
D. Watson. |
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.
Thou land of hope for all who toil!
Thou True North, strong and free!
- Refrain:
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 through the years
From East to Western sea.
Our own beloved native land!
Our True North, strong and free!
- Refrain
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.
- Refrain
|
Lord of the lands, beneath Thy bending skies,
On field and flood, where’er our banner flies,
Thy people lift their hearts to Thee,
Their grateful voices raise:
May our dominion ever be
A temple to Thy praise.
Thy will alone let all enthrone;
- Refrain:
Lord of the lands, make Canada Thine own:
Lord of the lands, make Canada Thine own!
Almighty Love, by Thy mysterious power,
In wisdom guide, with faith and freedom dower;
Be ours a nation evermore
That no oppression blights,
Where justice rules from shore to shore,
From lakes to northern lights.
May love alone for wrong atone;
- Refrain
Lord of the worlds, with strong eternal hand,
Hold us in honor, truth and self-command;
The loyal heart, the constant mind,
The courage to be true,
Our wide extending empire bind,
And all the earth renew.
Thy Name be known through every zone;
- Refrain
|
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, whose province is hosting
the 2010 Winter Olympics, in
Vancouver
.
"O Canada" is routinely played before sporting events involving
Canadian teams. "O Canada" is normally performed in English or a
combination of English and French lyrics. The NHL requires arenas
to perform both the Canadian and
American national anthem at games
that involve teams from both countries.
At a
Calgary Flames game in February
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. It was performed in a native language at the
1988 Winter Olympics opening
ceremony in Calgary.
Proposed changes to lyrics
Weir's original 1908 lyrics, consisting of three verses, did not
contain the word "sons", instead 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 recommend
to the Government of Canada that the phrase "our home and native
land" be changed to "our home and cherished land", and "true
patriot love in all thy sons command" be changed to "true patriot
love in all of us command." Councillor Howard Moscoe said that the
words "native land" were not appropriate for the many Canadians who
were not native-born, and that the word "sons" implied "that women
can't feel true patriotism or love for Canada."
Feminists such as Senator
Vivienne Poy have criticized the English lyrics
of the anthem as being
sexist.
In 2002, Poy 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.
Vancouver 2010 Olympics
On
September 25,
2008, John Furlong, the chairman of VANOC, the
Vancouver
2010 Winter Olympics
organizing committee, announced that "
With glowing hearts"
from the English lyrics and "
Des plus brillants exploits"
from the French lyrics would be used as trademarked slogans for the
2010 Olympics.
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