Last night witnessed the playing of the annual Major League Baseball All-Star Game. Some editions of this summer classic have ended with fireworks. Last night was no exception. This year, however, the pyrotechnics came early, before the first pitch was thrown.
The eruption came during the singing of the national anthem — more specifically, the Canadian national anthem, “O Canada.” The rendition was provided by a quartet from Vancouver known as The Tenors.
SB Nation describes the offense:
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Instead of signing the original lyric of “With glowing hearts we see thee rise, The True North strong and free!” the group sang “We’re all brothers and sisters, All lives matter to the great” before eventually getting back to the actual lyrics.
One member of the group also held up an “All Lives Matter” sign during the performance.
Here’s a video of the performance:
Correction: The Tenors altered O Canada lyrics in support of All Lives Matter. pic.twitter.com/Q0i6qqLB4Y
— Bill Cooney (@BillCooney) July 13, 2016
The phrase “All lives matter” has become something of a shibboleth. Its willful use is confined to conservatives, who are widely condemned by social justice warriors for daring to say such a thing.
This time, though, the change struck a nerve in patriots as well, who disliked seeing see their national anthem prostituted to serve a political agendum:
Why The Tenors chose to re-write the Canadian national anthem is beyond me. I'm speechless. #ASG
— Hazel Mae (@thehazelmae) July 13, 2016
I'm not sure who the Tenors are, but maybe, next time, use the words as written for the Canadian anthem.
— Bluebird Banter (@bluebirdbanter) July 13, 2016
The Tenors themselves posted a chicken-livered tweet several hours later, indicating — unintentionally hilariously — that the substitution was the work of a “lone wolf,” who is now in the doghouse.
— The Tenors (@TenorsMusic) July 13, 2016
It is possible there will be further fallout from the performance. Last week, Justin Trudeau, Canada’s far-left prime minister, announced his plan to make the anthem gender-neutral. Part of the realization of that goal was to rewrite the lyric “in all thy sons command,” to “in all of us command.” The Tenors’ rendition did not include this bowdlerization.
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