Happy Canada Day! Go sing our national anthem. When you've done that, maybe you'd like to learn about The Maple Leaf Forever — the song that served as Canada's unofficial anthem for many years before we had O Canada. Here's the first verse:
In days of yore,
From Britain's shore
Wolfe the dauntless hero came
And planted firm Britannia's flag
On Canada's fair domain.
Here may it wave,
Our boast, our pride
And joined in love together,
The thistle, shamrock, rose entwined,
The Maple Leaf Forever.
(The rest of lyrics are here. The Virtual Grammaphone has some sound files.)
Of course it's not politically correct enough for today, and that bit about "Wolfe the dauntless hero" wouldn't go over well in Quebec, and ....
So the lyrics have been re-written. A page at CanadaInfo offers the old and new lyrics, and explains:
Alexander Muir's 1867 up-the-Empire standard, which was Canada's unofficial national anthem until the arrival of O Canada, has new lyrics. The updated, politically sensitive The Maple Leaf Forever, with lyrics by Romanian émigré Vladimir Radian, received its first full orchestral treatment on June 27, 1997 at a free concert by the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.
Radian, a mathematician turned songwriter/actor/poet, came to Canada a decade ago, completely unaware of The Maple Leaf Forever and its crowing lyrics. He discovered the song while listening to CBC Radio's Metro Morning show in Toronto when it ran a contest to replace the old lyrics, which were distasteful to some ears and merely comical to others.
Other Canada Day content on Mirabilis.ca:
Happy Canada Day - July 1st, 2003