The Town of Odyssey

The line "True patriot love in all thy sons command" is now "True patriot love in all of us command."

Pretty big news I think, this kind of thing is a rare occurrence.

Subtle, but significant. Hmm. Was it voted on, or simply done at the higher levels? I have zero clue on how Canadian Government works.

~JCGJ~ wrote:Was it voted on, or simply done at the higher levels?

Their senate did it.

~JCGJ~ wrote:Subtle, but significant.

Unnecessary gender neutrality irritates me because it's such a dumb thing to be concerned about, but I don't have an issue with this one. I think it's a good move. Not because it needed to become politically correct, there was nothing wrong with the old version, everyone should be able to realize it didn't literally mean 'son' as in only the men that was just how people talked back then, but I think this just sounds better gender debate aside.

I agree, it is more pleasing to the ear. And I think it personalizes it a bit as well. You can include yourself in "all of us command," which makes the song easier to connect to, on a personal level. The whole song is about this land that "I call my home," and putting :all of us" in there extends the personal pronoun already established in the beginning of the piece ("I, me, my") to include "all of us."
I like it.

I agree with all of that, but I also don't really have a right to approve or not since I'm not Canadian. I'll let someone who actually sings that anthem decide if it's really better this way.

It isn't a big deal to me either way. This change still needs the final approval, but I'm guessing that won't be an issue. I don't take issue with the lyrics as they are, and have never felt like "sons" left me out of Canada, but I can understand why some people want more inclusive language, and it isn't a dramatic change or anything. It will take some getting used to, and I wonder how quickly that change will occur. As a hockey fan, I've heard renditions of O Canada sung (for away games) in such a way as to make me wonder whether the anthem singer has ever even heard the anthem, not to mention changing lyrics in a timely manner. To be fair, the worst rendition I ever heard was via the radio for an AHL game years ago, but still, it was bad enough for me to still remember!

*kneels for Canadian anthem to protest poutine brutality*