Rufus Wainwright changes ‘O Canada’ lyrics in protest of Donald Trump comments
On October 29th, musician Rufus Wainwright made a subtle show of defiance at the World Series when he changed the lyrics in ‘O Canada‘.
The singer, hailing from Montreal, sang “that only us command” instead of the lyric “in all of us command,” delivering the anthem in both English and French. The song was sung in anticipation of the game between the Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Wainwright did not come up with this change; it had been done already by fellow Canadian Chantal Kreviazuk’s protest performance at the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey final in February. Both Kreviazuk and Wainwright used the lyric change to rebuke Donald Trump’s recent comments about Canada.
More specifically, Trump has often shared that Canada can avoid higher taxes if it joins the United States of America and becomes its 51st state. These comments have been interpreted as the President consistently undermining the agency, sovereignty, and importance of the country.
Wainwright’s disdain towards Trump was made public in 2020, when he called the events of the Trump administration “impossible to minimise the ineptitude and pure evil”, suggesting that Trump’s actions did not seem to show empathy towards humanity.
Additionally, when his song was used at a Trump rally in October 2024, the singer publicly declared that he was “mortified”. He noted at his time that his cover of ‘Hallelujah’ was intended as an anthem for “peace, love and acceptance of the truth”.
Another lyric change was heard at the World Series this week. On October 27th, Grammy-nominated musician JP Saxe sang the line “our home on native land” instead of “our home and native land”, echoing that of R&B singer Jully Black in 2023.
Wainwright’s most recent studio album, Folkocracy, was released in 2023. His next work, I’m a Stranger Here Myself – Wainwright Does Weill, is scheduled for a November 21st release.
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