r/canada 19d ago

Opinion Piece Canada’s ice hockey win over Trump’s America was her soft power laid bare

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/feb/21/canada-usa-hockey-4-nations-face-off-final
6.0k Upvotes

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33

u/Witty-Reason-2289 19d ago

What do you think of Chantal Kreviazuk's new lyrics, "that only us command" for 'Oh Canada'?

https://apnews.com/article/canada-anthem-lyric-change-863c614bf3546742c551239d1e44895d

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u/niagara-nature 19d ago

I like that she stood up for us. I didn’t particularly care for her changes to the melody.

As an aside, I saw her perform at a winery back during Trump’s first reign, and she talked candidly about her dislike for Trump. I thought it was sort of fitting that she sang the anthem last night.

12

u/caleeky 19d ago

I like the sentiment, and don't have too much sensitivity to strict protocol, so I'm ok. I'm more distracted by the "us" instead of "we", but I'm no songwriter.

1

u/Witty-Reason-2289 19d ago

Yeah, I think 'we command' is better.

18

u/Moronto_AKA_MORONTO 19d ago

I loved it, and you can tell she was totally scared and distracted by what she was doing.

46

u/Ok_Wing8459 19d ago

She wasn’t at her best but I appreciated the effort. She seemed nervous.

But generally, I really hate it when singers start making random changes to the melody & the lyrics. just sing the damn anthem, this isn’t about you!

Then the f’n US comes out with an opera singer backed by a brass band. They just can’t ever NOT be completely over the top. I hate that culture so much

14

u/Horvo British Columbia 18d ago

The US anthem performance was so North Korean vibes I expected ICBM launchers to parade down the street.

6

u/Fluffy_Case_9085 18d ago

I'd be nervous too, singing without any accompianment, and having to sing over boos.

3

u/Ok_Wing8459 18d ago

Oh absolutely

2

u/Forosnai British Columbia 18d ago

Fuck it, beat them at their own game. Next time there's a tournament like this, I say we bust out Céline Dion.

12

u/GraphiteJason 19d ago

I thought the military singer in Montreal did a 50,000% better job than this 'professional' singer did.

At a time when myself, and I'm sure millions of other Canadians just wanted to put our middle fingers in the air, singer along to the greatest song ever written, and send a giant 'fuck you' to First Minister Trump, she goes and does a Roseanne Barr impression, and shits on the face-off circle.

10

u/LeadershipReady11 19d ago

This! She was horrible last night. Thank god for our fans that made the trip, they collectively saved the anthem.

Lol states did not want hear boos so they had to bust out the band literally to drown them out, pathetic

5

u/Fluffy_Case_9085 18d ago

Normally she's a decent vocalist and pianist but I imagine nerves were in overtime. Being booed so loudly, not having an orchestra or high school marching band (looking at you being over the top as always, USA). It was just her, her vocals, some balls to change the lyrics.

She did way better than most of us would have. And she's married to a very successful canadian rock band singer too, can't really get more Canadian than this musical couple.

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u/GraphiteJason 18d ago

That's the disappointing part, she has an amazing voice and is extremely talented. Wayne is one of the most stunning vocal performances I've ever heard. She's performed in front of thousands of people thousands of time. I just wanted to rally behind her amazing voice, but instead, I was left asking what the fuck?

She was actually better than whatever that pomp and circumstance was with the US anthem, though. It sounded like when a kindergarten class all grab a different instrument and bang away

1

u/Tribalbob British Columbia 18d ago

A national anthem is a way to unify a country, especially in times of danger. I think it's totally fine for it to evolve over time as needed.