Singing Praise of Canada

 

On July 1, 2025, the Rapid Response Choir assembled outside the Washington, DC, Canadian embassy to celebrate Canada Day on its 158^th anniversary. The Dresser notes this concert as a protest against the United States president Donald J. Trump, who wants Canada to become the 51^st state of the US.  Through a slight alteration of Woody Gutherie’s song “This Land Is Your Land,” the RRC founder Peter Burkholder made it clear that his group supports the independent country of Canada, the neighbor of good standing to the north of the continental United States. Burkholder got volunteers from the audience to hold up his placards which read “From the Yukon Mountains to the Price Edward Island. From the Northwest Passage to the Great Lakes waters. That land is yours and only yours.”

 

Burkholder made the point that the appropriate 51^st US state should be Washington, DC, which got a loud cheer. Invited to sing along, the gathering of approximately 100 people heard such songs as “O Canada,” “America the Beautiful,” Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah,” and Joni Mitchell’s “Both Sides Now.” The Dresser’s favorite of this concert was “This Is My Song,” a poem set to Jean Sibelius’ hymn melody “Finlandia.”

 

The poetic words by Lloyd Stone are deeply meaningful in this unnecessary fight Trump has picked with an important ally.

 

This is my song, a song for all the nations,
A song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
Here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine.
But other hearts in other lands are beating,
With hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

—“This Is My Song,” (excerpt)

 

In many ways, this protest concert was the most joyful that the Rapid Response Choir has assembled for. Many of their concerts have been in support of actions of dire consequences including the downsizing of the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the many Maryland hearings on the immigration case of Kilmar Abrego Garcia. More information about the RRC can be found in the Scene4 article  “Street Singers Supporting Democracy” and the RRC website.