The Canadian national anthem is “O Canada”.“God Save the Queen” is also often heard, but Canada shares that song with Great Britain.
There are two sets of letters (words): English and French. Canadians usually sing the anthem in their mother tongue. But at public events, especially federal government ceremonies, people tend to sing partly in English and partly in French. (This doesn’t always work well. In his book, straight from the heart, former Prime Minister Jean Chretien wrote about trying to lead a crowd in the national anthem. He sang in French, since he didn’t know the words in English. He waited for everyone else to join in, in English. But no one else started singing, and he had to sing the entire song by himself.)
The French lyrics were written first. They were written as a poem by a Quebec judge, Sir Adolphe-Basile Routhier. To compose, Calixa Lavallée wrote the music for them. This was done in 1880 for a French-Canadian convention.
The English lyrics were written in 1908.Robert Stanley Weir, also a judge, wrote the words used today. He was not the first to try. In that year, a magazine held a contest to find English words for the anthem. The winner was Mercy E. Powell McCulloch. But her lyrics never caught on.
The letters in French and English do not have the same meaning. French words speak of ancestors, war and religion. The English words refer to “bright hearts” and “true north.”
“O Canada” became the official national anthem in 1980. This happened on July 1 of that year, Canada Day.
It is sung at Canadian citizenship ceremonies. People who are becoming citizens are encouraged to learn it for this occasion.
People are expected to stand when the anthem is played. But this is not a law, just good manners.
It is in the public domain. That means no one owns the copyright. Anyone can use this song without paying.
To listen to the music and read the lyrics for all versions, visit the Canadian heritage site, here [http://www.pch.gc.ca/pgm/ceem-cced/symbl/anthem-eng.cfm#a10]
