Jully Black Subtly Changed The Lyrics To 'O Canada' & One Word Made All The Difference (VIDEO)
"THIS is what inclusivity and visibility is all about."
Jully Black singing "O Canada" at the 2023 NBA All Star game.
Jully Black's performance of the Canadian national anthem at the 2023 NBA All Star game has caused a bit of a stir online, and it's all because of one word.
While singing "O Canada" ahead of the game in Utah, the Toronto musician changed up the lyrics, and people are praising the small but significant change.
Instead of singing "Our home and native land," Black instead sang "Our home on native land."
While some may wonder if the change was a blunder or unintentional, it seems Black knew exactly what she was doing and shared multiple posts to her Instagram story of those praising the change.
"She changed these lyrics ON HER own and KILLED this rendition of our Canadian anthem! THIS is what inclusivity and visibility is all about," said the caption on one of the stories she shared.
As well, she discussed the reason behind the change-up with The Shift host Kayla Grey given that she's been singing the anthem "since kindergarten."
"I reached out to some Indigenous friends to say, first of all, 'How do you feel about me doing this anthem?'" Black explained. "And I got some feedback, and so I really dissected the lyrics, to really sing it with intention.”
"Now I’m singing it in a whole other meaningful way," she shared.
\u201c@JullyBlack "I really dissected the lyrics, to really sing it with intention."\n\n@JullyBlack did her research, reaching out to Indigenous community members, before performing the Canadian anthem.\u201d— THE SHIFT (@THE SHIFT) 1676858131
Over on Twitter, many praised Black's decision.
"Today in #popculturehistory @JullyBlack sings the Canadian anthem at the #NBAAllStar and seamlessly made the lyrics more inclusive while reminding us all, we are indeed on native land," tweeted one person.
\u201cToday in #popculturehistory @JullyBlack sings the Canadian anthem at the #NBAAllStar and seamlessly made the lyrics more inclusive while reminding us all, we are indeed on native land.\u201d— Marie the Pop Culture Historian (@Marie the Pop Culture Historian) 1676864338
"Jully Black singing 'our home ON native land' is a Canadian Heritage Moment," tweeted another.
\u201cJully Black singing 'our home ON native land' is a Canadian Heritage Moment #NBAAllStar\u201d— Alice (@Alice) 1676855897
"Wow. Never heard the Canadian anthem sang this spectacularly. She added a whole lot of seasoning," said one person in the YouTube comments.
"Beautifully done. Loved that she changed it up a bit by saying 'Our home ON Native land' instead of 'Our home AND Native land!'" said another. "Words matter."
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.
