Rufus Wainwright offered a unique rendition of “O Canada” before Game 5 of the World Series at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday evening. The Montreal-born musician altered the lyrics to “that only us command” instead of the original “in all of us command,” performing the anthem in both English and French as a prelude to the Toronto Blue Jays versus Los Angeles Dodgers match.
This lyrical adjustment by Wainwright mirrored a similar act by fellow Canadian artist Chantal Kreviazuk during the 4 Nations Face-Off hockey final in Boston on Feb. 20. Kreviazuk also changed the same phrase in protest of Donald Trump’s remarks referring to Canada as the “51st state.”
Notably, Wainwright’s rendition is not the only anthem lyric modification at the World Series this week. During Game 3 on Oct. 27, Grammy-nominated singer JP Saxe substituted “our home on native land” for “our home and native land.” This change echoes R&B singer Jully Black’s performance at the NBA All-Star game in Salt Lake City in 2023.
Before Wainwright’s performance in Game 5, Toronto-native singer-songwriter Deborah Cox sang “O Canada” ahead of Game 4. The series was tied at 2-2 leading into Game 5, where the Blue Jays triumphed over the Dodgers with a score of 6-1 by the end of the evening.
The series will continue with Game 6 at Rogers Centre on Friday night, with a potential Game 7 in Toronto on Saturday if needed.