Chantal Kreviazuk protested President Donald Trump's threat to make Canada its "51st state" by changing the lyrics to "O Canada" during her performance ahead of last night's (February 20) much-hyped 4 Nations Face-Off between Canada and the USA.
The Canadian singer's publicist Adam Gonshor confirmed to The Associated Press that she purposely changed the lyric from “in all of us command” to “that only us command” in protest to Trump’s flagrant comments.
She told the AP the reasoning behind her decision was “because I believe in democracy, and a sovereign nation should not have to be defending itself against tyranny and fascism.”
“I’m somebody who grew up on music that spoke to the heart and the moment, and it shaped me as a songwriter and really as a human being,” Kreviazuk added. “I don’t think it would be authentic to me to be given a world stage and not express myself and be true to myself.”
Kreviazuk was booed inside Boston's TD Garden as she sang the altered version of the anthem before the game, in which Canada beat USA 3-2 in overtime. The booing followed the same actions Canadian fans took against “The Star-Spangled Banner” when Team USA played their games at the Bell Centre in Montreal last week.
In a post on her Instagram account, Kreviazuk revealed she had written the specific change on her hand at the last minute. In the caption she wrote, "hey everyone.. thank you so much for all the love and support. what a game. and what an experience! To be clear I am fine with the haters. they’re mostly bots. i get how this works. i feel only all your incredible passion for our country and your kindness. i want you to know that i didn’t plan this or plot at all… i was honoured to get the gig! 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."
"here is the thing. art to me is an expression of our truth," she continued. "the anthem is not a lawful document. it is an expression of the collective, and it changes from time to time when the moment demands it should. So yes. in this very peculiar and potentially consequential moment i truly believe that we must stand up, use our voices and try to protect ourselves… no - 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. we have a culture individual to others. we are united in our values. we care. we’re kind. We are strong. #canadastrong #expressyourtruth #peaceandlove"
Unfortunately for Kreviazuk, her performance brought out the haters and their pitchforks on social media, many of whom seem to believe the anthem is some kind of "lawful document." Clearly, some folks need to brush up on the National Anthem Act.
Watch her performance and see the Instagram post below.