This post first appeared on Technorati.com
When a 9th grader asked me to teach him the Canadian national anthem earlier this week, I thought it was a pretty straightforward request, and a quick search online would fill in the blanks. But I was mistaken. Canada has no national anthem.
Most Canadians would dispute this. They made it through a record 14 gold medal ceremonies in the 2010 Winter Olympics, after all, singing the refrain, “O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.”
But what about French Canadians? The English and French lyrics are not aligned. French Canadians don’t stand on guard to protect Canada. Instead, they count on Canada to stand on guard for them–to protect their homes and their rights. Both sentiments are worthy of a national anthem, but at some point, you have to agree as a nation what it is you stand for. That’s why it is called a national anthem, and not a this-is-what-it-means-to-me improvisation.
French Canadians have remained consistent, singing the same words to the same tune for 130 years. But English-speaking Canadians can’t leave well enough alone. First, they translated the French lyrics but kept the sentiment. Then, they borrowed the tune but gave it completely different lyrics. Then they added extra stanzas. Then removed them. Finally, in 1980, the English lyrics were officially settled, based on an early 20th Century version that focused on the sacrifice of Canada’s sons to protect its borders. Not surprisingly, this version gained popularity during World War I.
Trouble is, these lyrics have nothing to do with the French-language version. And as it turns out, the English version is still controversial. From 1990 up to the present day, both liberal and conservative Canadians have objected to a line in the current English version: “True patriot love in all thy sons command.” Most recently, the ruling conservative party asked the Canadian Parliament to consider reverting the current English line about “sons” to an earlier, pre-WWI version that expressed the same sentiment but in gender-neutral terms. Interestingly, both versions were from the same author, Stanley Weir. No matter, the current opposition party felt that the suggestion was a political maneuver, and not worthy of consideration.
It is time to decide. By 2031, according to Canada’s Globe and Mail, one in four Canadians will be foreign-born. The need for a unified vision of purpose has surely never been greater, and no single expression of this purpose will be more visible than Canada’s national anthem. If it can pick one.
In the United States, we have struggled with the same pressures from immigration; have been lured by bigotry and protectionism. But from the very beginning, we told a beautiful lie about ourselves and waited for it to come true. We waited more than 200 years and argued incessantly about the best route, but the goal has remained the same.
If it’s a truly national anthem, there can only be one version. It doesn’t need bombs bursting in air, although concrete language definitely helps. The original French Canadian anthem is clear and concrete, and if I were Canadian I would sing the French version. I would sing it badly and mispronounce the words, but I would get the sentiment right, and I would sing it proudly. After all, the composer, Calixa Lavallée, was a Canadian who fought in the American Civil War and died in Boston. We share a vision of unity through diversity, of strength through independence. And we are willing to share our anthem with our northern neighbors if it helps. Especially since we only won nine gold medals, and could stand to hear our anthem a few more times.
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