ChillsFilter

May 27, 2006 11:45 PM

The US and Canadian national anthems as delivered this week in Edmonton, Ontario. [youtube video]
posted by tsarfan (66 comments total)

I'm pretty sure you mean Edmonton, Alberta.
posted by Zozo at 11:48 PM on May 27, 2006

whoops
posted by tsarfan at 11:53 PM on May 27, 2006

Simply awesome. Especially when the singer raises the mic up for the crowd to take over. I've watched tons and tons of hockey in my life and I've always came away thinking that the Canadians had the best anthem in the world. Having said that, I would never exchange that for hearing the Star Spangled Banner sung at the old Chicago Stadium. The crowd noise was once measured at 124 db. That's louder than a jet engine from 5 feet.

I do miss those old 80's Oilers Clubs. That was the best hockey played anywhere, anytime. And No. 99 was the greatest team sport athelete ever.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:56 PM on May 27, 2006

Nope, I'm pretty sure tsarfan meant Edmunston, New Brunswick.
posted by damclean2 at 11:57 PM on May 27, 2006

Also if you watch the crowd pan closely, you see an Oiler fan in the upper deck take his hat off and wipe his tears. Stunning.
posted by Ironmouth at 11:57 PM on May 27, 2006

Don't call Edmonton Canada's Team
posted by loquax at 12:03 AM on May 28, 2006

Whichever Edmonton you're referring to, Edmonton's in the Stanley Cup Finals! The first time since 1990, and many say it's due to some intelligent movement.
posted by NationalKato at 12:14 AM on May 28, 2006

Awesome.

Though the US does have a handicap, what with our anthem being a bit hazy in the middle and all...

AND THE FISH IN THE SKY AND A BIG MONKEY PIE!
posted by grapefruitmoon at 12:45 AM on May 28, 2006

Nice use of the "Paul" tag, tsarfan.
posted by jonson at 12:46 AM on May 28, 2006

Great article loquax. It pretty much sums up how I feel. Torn. Bittersweet. Twisting on the inside.
posted by damclean2 at 12:46 AM on May 28, 2006

Nice. Just like Americans to substitute jingoism for, ya know, actual class and talent.

Go Oilers.
posted by bardic at 1:02 AM on May 28, 2006

That made me very happy and envious.

I have not stood for my national anthem since around January of 2001.

Nor will I until this country is under the guidance of kind and brave hands.
posted by rougy at 1:07 AM on May 28, 2006

loquax, I don't quite get the gist of the article you linked. I love sports. I love baseball, for example. I hate the Yankees. If the US anthem got booed playing the Bluejays, however, I think that would be kind of shitty. Things is, it would never happen up there without provocation, IMO.

Although I am surprised "Oh, Canada" got booed in LA. Scratch that--it was Anaheim.

Republican and Porn capital of the west coast.
posted by bardic at 1:09 AM on May 28, 2006

bardic - the article only tangentially relates to the whole booing controversy, and mostly deals with the lack of rallying around the flag when it comes to Edmonton being the last Canadian team left. Despite the singalong, much of the rest of Canada isn't too interested, nor, would it appear, that Edmonton cares too much about "representing Canada" in the finals. Not that there's anything wrong with that. I just thought it was interesting, given the coverage of the anthem stuff. Most people I know (in Toronto) were watching basketball or baseball today, and didn't even realize the Oilers were playing. It actually feels like the season ended when the Leafs missed the playoffs. I'm sure Calgarians are generally pissed off about everything that's happening too.

Also, no matter what happens, hockey's future on American television is in serious jeopardy. Edmonton-Carolina/Buffalo? Yuck. Who, outside those lovely burgs, could possibly care? Didn't the NHL think to rig a good old fashioned Detroit-NY final? Or even Ottawa-Colorado? Anything other than a final four that includes the ex-Whalers out of Raleigh, the Mighty Ducks, the smallest Canadian city with a team and the goddamn Sabres? In the year after a lockout? They need to hire the Juventus guy I think.

(PS: It's the Jay's year. We'll take care of those Yanks, don't worry.)
posted by loquax at 1:26 AM on May 28, 2006

I hope so, cuz the Orioles sure ain't gonna do it. Yet again. Or ever again.

In all sincerity, I wonder what Toby Keith would make of this. Because standing up for the underdog and what you believe in is very American, ain't it? I look forward to seeing him and others give thanks to Oilers fans for showing some patriotism.
posted by bardic at 1:36 AM on May 28, 2006

as an American - if it isnt obvious by the mistake in my post - i'd say it's thinks like the excitement within Edmonton that gets me excited about hockey again.

that and the girls flashing on whyte avenue while atop shopping carts.
posted by tsarfan at 1:46 AM on May 28, 2006

I remember during 2003, American forces bombed and straffed Canadian forces. What did they do up in Detroit, when they played the Canadian anthem. Booed like a bunch of fuckin idiots. We killed their men, and then we boo their anthem. Fucking troglodytes anyway. I'm ashamed of the buttholes in my country. I'll say it now. I'll say it until things change.
posted by rougy at 1:52 AM on May 28, 2006

If you want to sample true national pride in song format. Come to England to catch the Last Night of the Proms for when they sing Rule Britannia (which is usually around Land of Hope and Glory, Jerusalem and God Save the Queen.

I would also like to wager that a crowd of British hooligan football (or soccer as you broken English Americans would call it) fans could out sing any of your American/Canadian sports fans - even while throwing flares at each other, beating the hell out of each other and remembering to be racist and retarded at all times*. (Shame they'd also be singing "your shit, and you know you are")

* yeah I dont really like football fans here lol
posted by 13twelve at 2:04 AM on May 28, 2006

Why were they playing the national anthems at all? This was just a league match wasn't it?

And why is an Edmonton v Carolina/Buffao final less interesting than other potential match-ups? I don't get it.
posted by salmacis at 4:34 AM on May 28, 2006

But 13twelve, LNOTP is pure jingoism; when did Britannia last rule the waves? And please don't appropriate the proud chant of the Tartan Army: it's We're Shite, And We Know We Are.

Best anthem singers? Welsh rugby fans. Could never be bettered.
posted by scruss at 4:38 AM on May 28, 2006

Since it's not clear from the post, is there something interesting about Paul Lorieau? Why did everyone go nuts when they saw him?

I did a little Googling and it seems he has frequently taken the mic to sing the Canadian national anthem, but is that all there is to it?
posted by emelenjr at 5:14 AM on May 28, 2006

Well Rougy, I hope you're never sitting near me. The National Anthem, like the Pledge of Allegiance has nothing to do with the current administration. (of this or any other time). By sitting you look as childish as the Anaheim crowd that boo'ed Oh Canada, or the Montral crowd that boo'ed The Star Spangled Banner a few years ago at a game vs. Boston. They like you have no ability to separate the team from the anthem. Grow up.
posted by Gungho at 5:46 AM on May 28, 2006

Yes, can I echo emelenjr?
I usually at least get posts fairly smartly - this one left me baffled? Is it the singer?
posted by Jody Tresidder at 5:49 AM on May 28, 2006

Jody, It is not the singer, he does a lot of games. There has been a brief history of hockey fans booing the opposing team's national Anthem. If you replay the start of the American anthem you can hear some booing that is drowned out by cheering, and then again a few seconds later. As I said to Rougy, the people with some sense are trying to shout down the childish ones who are confused and booing.
posted by Gungho at 5:58 AM on May 28, 2006

I liked the part at the end where Major Strasser tried to force Captain Renault to close down the hockey stadium.
posted by pracowity at 6:14 AM on May 28, 2006

Thanks very much Gungho.
(In retrospect, I was being as dense as the booers!).
posted by Jody Tresidder at 6:25 AM on May 28, 2006

Go Oilers!
posted by Hildegarde at 7:34 AM on May 28, 2006

That gave me shivers.

Rougy: Detroit fans are shitty. When I was a kid, my hockey team went to a game and my teammate got yelled at for wearing a Chicago Blackhawks jacket. We were 12, and a drunken adult Wings fan was yelling at us. That's all I have to say about Detroit.
posted by tweak at 7:50 AM on May 28, 2006

Loquax, that's the Toronto Star you linked to. Toronto, where to change light bulbs, you hold one in the air and let the world revolve around you. It's a bit like a NY newspaper complaining that the Dallas Cowboys weren't Americas team and that no one was interested in the Superbowl because the Jets or the Giants weren't involved.

The Ontario hockey fans I know are very happy to see Edmonton in the finals.
posted by bonehead at 7:58 AM on May 28, 2006

I don't get it. The crowd cheered because they forgot the lyrics to the Canadian anthem?

O Canada! Terre de nos aïeux,
Ton front est ceint de fleurons glorieux.
Car ton bras sait porter l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix.
Ton histoire est une épopée,
Des plus brillants exploits.
Et ta valeur, de foi trempée,
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.
Protégera nos foyers et nos droits.

This has to be a hockey thing. Montreal baseball fans, even when they filled Le Stade Olympique, never booed the American anthem.
posted by ?! at 8:23 AM on May 28, 2006

This is awesome. It's quite a contrast from the dominant American tradition of Anthem as Product Placement, where the latest talentless starlet is given the opportunity to deface the anthem with unsingalongable frills. Karen Newman in Detroit always sings the anthem exactly the same horrible way, and her arrhythymic approach seems to be calculated to make it impossible for the audience to sing along, no matter how many times they've heard her painful rendition.

It's refreshing to see someone who recognizes that singing a national anthem isn't about them.

Go Oilers!
posted by ulotrichous at 8:50 AM on May 28, 2006

even when they filled Le Stade Olympique

You had me up until that point!
posted by mendel at 8:52 AM on May 28, 2006

By sitting you look as childish as the Anaheim crowd that boo'ed Oh Canada

I disagree. Refusing to stand seems like a perfectly civil and mature way of expressing oneself. Booing is childish and obnoxious.

And fuck the pledge of allegiance.
posted by ludwig_van at 8:58 AM on May 28, 2006

Just to, um, set the record straight, I'm pretty sure it was just San Jose Sharks fans that booed the Canadian national anthem, not Anaheim? Or did they both?
posted by wolftrouble at 9:20 AM on May 28, 2006

not to be anti-Toronto. Well maybe a little. I was in a piano bar last night in Ottawa (only 4 hours from the centre of the universe) and when the game was winding down, the whole bar was cheering and clapping. So a Toronto newspaper writing an article on how no one cares might apply to the GTA, but please don't gneralize to the rest of Canada or even Ontario.
posted by sety at 9:34 AM on May 28, 2006

I thought it was about how passionate the Canadian fans were and how cool it was that the singer just let them take over at some point. I didn't know or see anything about any booing at all. I'm an American hockey fan and I've always thought Oh, Canada was the coolest anthem ever.
posted by Ironmouth at 9:58 AM on May 28, 2006

wolftrouble, you are correct sir. Sorry to obfuscate.
posted by bardic at 10:14 AM on May 28, 2006

I would also like to wager that a crowd of British hooligan football (or soccer as you broken English Americans would call it) fans could out sing any of your American/Canadian sports fans

My first exposure to English football was a World Cup qualifier. The singer comes out for the anthem, opens her mouth, sings "God," and the crowd did the rest.

We Americans don't sing our anthem. I've never understood why.
posted by dw at 10:20 AM on May 28, 2006

I have not stood for my national anthem since around January of 2001.

Nor will I until this country is under the guidance of kind and brave hands.

I continue to stand during these dark times, because I refuse to let these assholes hold the copyright over "the land of the free and the home of the brave." I sing it in resistance to the oligarchy.

The Pledge, though, I contend is a violation of the Second Commandment against false idols. Ditto all these flag preservation laws and amendments. I'm sorry, but it's the ideas symbolized by the flag we defend, not the flag itself.
posted by dw at 10:26 AM on May 28, 2006

I've always been bothered when national anthem singers try to make the song about them. It's the freaking national anthem. Hold those notes for 45 seconds on your own country music award nominated drivel, and leave the national anthem as the national anthem.

And I've gotta say, it's usually the American singers who do this.
posted by thenormshow at 10:26 AM on May 28, 2006

I don't know if this is still true but when I was a kid in Canadian grade school we had to sing the national anthem every morning. I'm divided in my opinion I guess, on the one hand at least you know all the words if you ever do feel moved to sing it, on the other hand forced deplays of patriotism don't ring very patriotic to me. Most kids did the anthem in the same monotonic manner that they greeted Mrs Wilson or made their way through the Lord's prayer (I went to a Catholic grade school)
posted by substrate at 10:37 AM on May 28, 2006

I've always been bothered when national anthem singers try to make the song about them.

Doesn't a lot of that have to to with the fact that it's a difficult song to sing well? "The song is notoriously difficult for nonprofessionals to sing, because its range is wide: an octave and a half" says the Wikipedia article, so I can imagine the temptation to show off one's pipes, especially with the high notes at the end (freeeeee-eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!).

We Americans don't sing our anthem. I've never understood why.

Aside from the tune, the words and phrasing are a bit strange to a modern audience. "O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming"? No wonder it comes out as "Or the rahhmar wau wah wuh wah rah wah rah bee ring." America the Beautiful is far easier on the ear, and still quite stirring, both musically and lyrically (certainly to this here Canucklehead).
posted by hangashore at 10:42 AM on May 28, 2006

Edmonton, Ontario

Tsk. We're just north of Tottenham and a bit to the east of Cockfosters. Surely not that hard to remember.

Hee hee. Cockfosters.
posted by hangashore at 11:27 AM on May 28, 2006

Thank you Edmonton fans. Very classy. Good to see your team in the finals again too. Lowest seeded team ever to make it in.

Having said that, I would never exchange that for hearing the Star Spangled Banner sung at the old Chicago Stadium. The crowd noise was once measured at 124 db. That's louder than a jet engine from 5 feet.

I was there for one of those and I will never forget it. Wayne Messmer on the mic, Frank Pellico on the old Stadium organ. It was really something special.
posted by First Post at 11:50 AM on May 28, 2006

Someone passed this along to me via email: Hard Rock Hallelujah as sung by 80,000 singers. This is shaping up to be Finland's new anthem, at least considering these previous goings on. Only in Finland!
posted by taursir at 12:00 PM on May 28, 2006

Lowest seeded team ever to make it in.

True enough - they were the eighth (of 8) seed in the western conference, but both Montréal (go Habs!) and Tampa Bay in the east had fewer points in the regular season. I'd thought that an eighth-seeded team had made it in before, but seventh-seeds Buffalo (1999) and Anaheim (2003) had held the previous crown.

I'd give the distinction of worst team to make it to the finals to the 1990-91 Minnesota North Stars, who finished 15th among 16 playoff teams that year (in what was then a 21-team league). This town was not exactly the Magic Kingdom when the Stars knocked off the defending Cup-champ Oilers in the semis that spring.
posted by hangashore at 12:19 PM on May 28, 2006

Most people I know (in Toronto) were watching basketball or baseball today, and didn't even realize the Oilers were playing.

For the record, most people I know in Toronto were watching the hockey game and cheering for the Oilers, as was I. Every Canadian hockey fan I know across this country is cheering for the Canadian team to win the cup-- as am I. Go Oilers!
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 12:21 PM on May 28, 2006

It was San Jose - I was at the game. It would have been one thing if it was a small group of idiots booing the anthem - you've got idiots everywhere - but it was nearly the entire crowd. Particularly idiotic in this case, considering a large number of the players (and most of their stars) are Canadian.

Re: the Star article: it is fair to say that there are a lot of people in the greater Toronto area who could be pulling for the Sabres. They're seen (especially in Hamilton and Niagara) as "the other local team". The Leafs are the undisputed favourites in the area, but I know a lot of people with Sabres season tickets. Of course, I also have a lot of friends who grew up in the 80s loving the Oilers with Gretz. (also: Grant Fuhr on coke == greatest goalie evar).

I'd love a Sabres-Edmonton final, personally. Two great "new-NHL" style teams with a lot of speed and grit.
posted by mzanatta at 12:54 PM on May 28, 2006

Ugh, I haaate the way some people sing the anthem. And I don't think what thenormshow is talking about has anything to do with the range of the song; show off your voice by singing the song correctly, sure, but I can't stand it when someone has to add 5,000 extra notes to the song or otherwise try to recompose it.

I was unfortunate enough to hear Jessica Simpson singing the anthem at some televised something or other, and it was awful. One of the most tasteless things I've ever heard. She did it all super fast and belty and melismatic. The crowd went nuts though. I wish people didn't think that singing really loudly and with tons of gaudy flourishes was equivalent to good singing.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:14 PM on May 28, 2006

I wish people didn't think that singing really loudly and with tons of gaudy flourishes was equivalent to good singing.

But then we wouldn't have American Idol.
posted by Zozo at 1:53 PM on May 28, 2006

I was at the game on Tuesday and it was quite a moment for everyone there. The fact the Sharks fans in the previous series had booed the Canadian anthem just gave Oiler fans ammunition to show our cousins to the south what sportsmanship really is. I find it amazing how two teams can kick the shit out of each other in mortal combat and then when one prevails they shake hands and wish the victor luck in the next round. As for being Canada's team, I watched last night's game at a bar here in Calgary and the cheering everytime they scored was surprising. The Oilers will prevail in the final in six and Ryan Smyth will score the winning goal. Go Oil!!!
posted by ktrain at 2:03 PM on May 28, 2006

"The land of the free, the land of the braves"???!!!

WOUHAHHHHHHHHHHHHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAA

FUCKERs
posted by zouhair at 2:21 PM on May 28, 2006

loquax writes "Edmonton-Carolina/Buffalo? Yuck. Who, outside those lovely burgs, could possibly care? Didn't the NHL think to rig a good old fashioned Detroit-NY final?"

Most of Canada cares, we care even when there isn't a Canadian team in the finals.

sety writes "I was in a piano bar last night in Ottawa (only 4 hours from the centre of the universe) and when the game was winding down, the whole bar was cheering and clapping."

ROSIE DIMANNO can bite me. I was in a fairly quiet ('cause it was only 20% full) family restuarant in Calgary last night that had the game on their TVs. Some woman yelled out load when Edmonton got the go ahead goal.
posted by Mitheral at 3:28 PM on May 28, 2006

scruss writes 'Best anthem singers? Welsh rugby fans. Could never be bettered.'

Seconded. Though an English crowd belting out Sweet Chariot or Jerusalem is pretty bloody close.
posted by blag at 3:34 PM on May 28, 2006

America the Beautiful is a shitty song that makes me think of Lawrence Welk, Shriner parades, and that "Painter of Light" shithead. It's a vulgar fucking song with no goddamn gravitas.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 3:35 PM on May 28, 2006

That is, I'm a fan of keeping the Star Spangled Banner as the American anthem. Can't sing it? Try harder. Striving is the American way.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 3:36 PM on May 28, 2006

America the Beautiful is a shitty song that makes me think of Lawrence Welk, Shriner parades, and that "Painter of Light" shithead. It's a vulgar fucking song with no goddamn gravitas.

I think you're confusing "America the Beautiful" with "God Bless America."

And you wouldn't say this if you heard Ray Charles' version of AtB. By the end of the song you're not sure what to do, hug the country in a tearful embrace, or make hot sweet love to it all night long.
posted by dw at 4:28 PM on May 28, 2006

I think you're confusing "America the Beautiful" with "God Bless America."

Nope. God Bless America is the shitty vulgar song that makes me think of carpet runners and transparent plastic couch covers and F Troop reruns on a badly tuned UHF station. Totally different.

And you wouldn't say this if you heard Ray Charles' version of AtB.

Heard it. Still sayin' it.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 4:49 PM on May 28, 2006

Well Rougy, I hope you're never sitting near me. The National Anthem, like the Pledge of Allegiance has nothing to do with the current administration.

Yes it does. What are you gonna do? Beat me up?

How "American" of you.
posted by rougy at 4:58 PM on May 28, 2006

I have to weigh in on this issue....

Last Stanley Cup final, lots of people latched on to Calgary as "Canada's Team" this year it is Edmonton.

This is not cheering for Canada necessarily, Tampa Bay actually had more Canadian players than Calgary... I believe the fans rally around the Canadian teams in the playoffs because its the smaller locally owned, fan-supported teams trying to beat the big corporate monsters. It is rooting for the underdog....

Tampa Bay and Carolina I suspect are not traditional hockey hotbeds and are only there for the media/luxury box money.

I still don't care about hockey though, and after saying that publically I am hoping some country is willing to accept my refuge claim
posted by Deep Dish at 5:10 PM on May 28, 2006

Rougy, You keep thinking that there is some connection if it makes you happy. Everyone sitting near you is gonna think either he's a cripple or a commie asshole.

Heck yeah! I am a hockey fan, and there sure as hell ain't been no fighting on the ice this year.
posted by Gungho at 7:11 PM on May 28, 2006

Substrate, yes, kids still have to sing the national anthem every morning in Canada up until the end of high school., It's a shame, because yes, when you're 12 you do all sing it in that monotonous manner - the thing to do when it's 9 am and you don't want to be in school, and pride in your country is the last thing you want to do when you're thinking about wanting more sleep in the morning. It's a shame, really - although perhaps nationalism and pride in one's country is best understood after living life a bit and travelling elsewhere.

The clip was inspiring for a number of reasons - for the chills-up-the-spine factor of Edmonton fans cheering through and silencing the people booing the American anthem (very classy - well done), and also for hearing a full house of people all singing the Canadian national anthem at full voice I'm biased being Canadian, but it is a beautiful melody and watching clip had me tearing up. Thanks for posting it...
posted by rmm at 8:13 PM on May 28, 2006

Tampa Bay actually had more Canadian players than Calgary...

The entire NHL is still more than 50 percent Canadian and only 18.5 percent Usian. Whenever they play the Star-Spangled Banner, pretty much 4/5ths of the players on the ice are listening to a foreign anthem.

I want to see some NHL teams from Mexico, Cuba, and the Bahamas. Or would the Americans have to fly through Canada to get to Cuba?
posted by pracowity at 5:09 AM on May 29, 2006

Not that anyone's still reading by now, but here's a little more on anthem singer Paul Lorieau, from Monday morning's Edmonton Journal.
posted by hangashore at 7:19 AM on May 29, 2006

gunho -

"Everyone sitting near you is gonna think either he's a cripple or a commie asshole."

I'm not standing becuase our country is in the hands of corruption and sitting is my act of dissent. If lowbrows like you don't get it, no amount of explaining in the world will enlighten you.
posted by rougy at 8:14 AM on May 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

Much as I'm sad to see my team out of the playoffs, it's always nice to see former players from my university doing well. Horcoff for the Oilers, Miller in goal for Buffalo... doesn't matter which team you play, where they're based, when you boo the anthem of the other country you're likely booing a good percentage of your own players. I say give the anthem some respect - cheer for your country, but if you must show your loyalty, shut up for the other. Nothing is colder than a deafening silence.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:05 AM on May 30, 2006