In defense of Rufus Wainwright, a Canadian-American who was tasked with singing the National Anthem at Dodger Stadium prior to Game 5 of the World Series...mistakes happen. I, for one, could never imagine singing my heart out in front of 40,000+ fans. To make matters worse for Wainwright, it doesn't seem like many American fans fully understood he made any sort of clerical error.
And, again, I don't want to anger our neighbors to the north. It's been a tough year for Canada-United States relations. A correct and to-the-point performance of the Canadian anthem on baseball's grandest stage is warranted and, to be completely honest, expected. Wainwright surely knows the words or else he wouldn't have volunteered to sing the song in the first place, I'd imagine.
Where Wainwright really got into trouble was when 'O Canada' transitioned to French-Canadian. I'll admit, I don't know an ounce of French and would botch this anthem far worse than the grammy-winning artist did. I, also, am not Rufus Wainwright, who while born in New York is part Canadian.
Rufus Wainwright performed the Canadian National Anthem before Game 5 of the World Series 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/VCj14fUw6d
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) October 29, 2025
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What, exactly, did Rufus Wainwright get wrong?
Wainwright accidentally made mistakes in both his English and French-Canadian verses. While I'd be hard-pressed to identify the latter, let's just say it didn't quite match the official lyrics, as mentioned on the country's official website:
"O Canada! Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all of
us command,
Car ton bras sait porter
l'épée,
Il sait porter la croix!
Ton histoire est une
épopée
Des plus brillants
exploits,
God keep our land
glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on
guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on
guard for thee."
And there ya have it. Wainwright wasn't too far off on the English lyrics, though he did say 'that only us command' rather than 'in all of us command'. The French...again, the French was way off, friends. I can't be more kind than that.
Flag on the play. Rufus Wainwright does not know the French words to O Canada. Great faking though. True profesh. #Worlds2025 #WANTITALL pic.twitter.com/kV7yIP6ndC
— Candace (@candace_toma) October 29, 2025
Rufus wainwright messing up both the English and French words of the Canadian Anthem had me like: pic.twitter.com/lOqCNEWc80
— Bowden4CyYoung (@Bowden4CyYoung) October 29, 2025
Give Rufus Wainwright a pass for his Canadian anthem performance
I am not hear to make any enemies, especially those who make tremendous coffee and maple syrup, or can beat me up in a hockey fight. However, can we lay off the guy a bit? Most of the replies on social media were, frankly, a bit harsh. Wainwright is not an extension of the man who leads the current executive branch of the United States government. He's just a guy doing his best to perform an anthem which requires fluency in TWO languages to complete!
The Canadian anthem is among the toughest to memorize beyond the opening verse for this very reason. As a performer on a grand stage, it was Wainwright's job to do his best. In that, he wasn't up to par. Considering some of the truly brutal Anthem performances MLB has trotted out the last few years in October, Wainwright could've been a lot worse. Trust me, I covered them.