Blame Canada: Difference between revisions

"Blame Canada"
"Blame Canada"
Promotional single by Mary Kay Bergman and Trey Parker
from the album South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
Released	June 15, 1999; 25 years ago
Recorded	1999
Genre	Satire
Length	1:35
Label	Atlantic
Songwriter(s)	Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman
Producer(s)	Darren Higman
Audio sample
	file; help;

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"Blame Canada" is a satirical song from the 1999 animated film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut, written by Trey Parker and Marc Shaiman. The song satirizes scapegoating and parents who fail to control "their children's consumption of popular culture", with the fictional South Park parents, led by Sheila Broflovski (Mary Kay Bergman), blaming the nation for children imitating the Terrance and Phillip film Asses of Fire.

"Blame Canada" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 72nd Academy Awards. Parker and Matt Stone arrived at the ceremony in dresses previously worn by Jennifer Lopez and Gwyneth Paltrow, and later claimed to be under the influence of LSD while on the red carpet.^[2]

An 8-bit remix of the song appears in the 2014 game South Park: The Stick of Truth, included as one of the overworld themes for the Canada level. The song appears again in the game's 2017 sequel, South Park: The Fractured but Whole, near the Canadian wall.^[3]

Shaiman wrote new lyrics for the song in 2023 reflecting conspiracy theories about the Canadian wildfires that year.^[4]^[5]

Reception

The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song at the 72nd Academy Awards (1999). This created controversy because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word fuck, which the FCC prohibits using in prime time broadcasts. At the awards ceremony, comedian Robin Williams performed the song with a chorus that gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment and did not actually sing it). He included digs at Margaret Trudeau and Bryan Adams, partially taken from lyrics of Sheila Broflovski's reprise of the song in "La Resistance". He referenced Celine Dion as well. Mary Kay Bergman, the voice actress who sang the female parts in the song, died months before the performance, forcing the organizers to search for a replacement for her and Trey Parker, who did the male voices. Williams introduced the song by speaking with duct tape over his mouth so that his speech resembled that of Kenny McCormick, then tearing it off and finally saying Stan Marsh's trademark line, "Oh my god! They killed Kenny!"

There was also some concern about the fact the song referred to well-known Canadian singer Anne Murray as a "bitch", but Murray indicated that she was not offended by the tongue-in-cheek lyric (Murray was invited to sing the song herself on the Oscar telecast but had to decline due to a prior commitment). When asked, the Canadian Consul General (and former prime minister) Kim Campbell said that she was not offended by the song since it was clearly a silly satirical piece and not intended to insult her country. This is made clear in the final line of the song:

We must blame them and cause a fuss.
Before somebody thinks of blaming us!

Coincidentally, the Canadian Oscar telecast in which Williams sang the song included the premiere of the Molson Canadian "I Am Canadian" rant advertisement, which counters many perceived Canadian stereotypes.

The song lost to Phil Collins' song "You'll Be in My Heart" from Tarzan, which was parodied on an episode of South Park released the following year, "Timmy 2000", as "You'll Be in Me".

References

^ Shehori, Steven. "Video: Robin Williams Sings 'Blame Canada' At The 2000 Oscars". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.
^ Swapnil Dhruv Bose (27 December 2021). "When Trey Parker and Matt Stone went to the Oscars on LSD". FarOutMagazine.co.uk.
^ Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (11 September 2008). Taking South Park Seriously. SUNY Press. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-0-7914-7566-9.
^ Shaiman, Marc (June 7, 2023). "BLAME CANADA 2023". Facebook. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
^ Vinay Menon (8 June 2023). "Blame Canada? Why the wildfires are fuelling some … pretty wild conspiracy theories". Toronto Star.

Bibliography

Johnson-Woods, Toni (2007). Blame Canada. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-1731-2.

[shehori-1] Shehori, Steven. "Video: Robin Williams Sings 'Blame Canada' At The 2000 Oscars". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 25, 2023. Retrieved April 30, 2023.

[2] Swapnil Dhruv Bose (27 December 2021). "When Trey Parker and Matt Stone went to the Oscars on LSD". FarOutMagazine.co.uk.

[Weinstock2008-3] Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock (11 September 2008). Taking South Park Seriously. SUNY Press. pp. 61–. ISBN 978-0-7914-7566-9.

[4] Shaiman, Marc (June 7, 2023). "BLAME CANADA 2023". Facebook. Retrieved June 8, 2023.

[5] Vinay Menon (8 June 2023). "Blame Canada? Why the wildfires are fuelling some … pretty wild conspiracy theories". Toronto Star.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|1999 single by Mary Kay Bergman and Trey Parker}}
 {{refimprove|date=April 2017}}
 {{Infobox song
-| name     = Blame Canada
+| name          = Blame Canada
-| cover    =
+| cover         =
-| alt      =
+| alt           =
-| type     = promo
+| type          = promo
-| artist   = [[Mary Kay Bergman]]
+| artist        = [[Mary Kay Bergman]] and [[Trey Parker]]
-| album    = [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (soundtrack)|South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]
+| album         = [[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut (soundtrack)|South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]
-| released = {{Start date|1999|06|15}}
+| released      = {{Start date and age|1999|06|15}}
-| format   =
+| format        =
-| recorded = 1999
+| recorded      = 1999
-| studio   =
+| studio        =
-| venue    =
+| venue         =
+| genre         = [[Satire]]<ref name="shehori">{{cite web |last1=Shehori |first1=Steven |title=Video: Robin Williams Sings ‘Blame Canada’ At The 2000 Oscars |url=https://etcanada.com/news/18234/video-robin-williams-sings-blame-canada-at-the-2000-oscars/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230325170916/https://etcanada.com/news/18234/video-robin-williams-sings-blame-canada-at-the-2000-oscars/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=March 25, 2023 |website=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |access-date=April 30, 2023}}</ref>
-| genre    = [[Show tune]], [[comedy music|comedy]]
-| length   = 1:35
+| length        = 1:35
-| label    = [[Atlantic Records]]
+| label         = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
-| writer   = [[Trey Parker]] and  [[Marc Shaiman]]
+| writer        = Trey Parker and [[Marc Shaiman]]
-| producer = Darren Higman
+| producer      = Darren Higman
-| misc     = {{Audio sample
+| misc          = {{Audio sample
  | type        = song
  | file        = South Park - Blame Canada.ogg
@@ Line 23: / Line 24: @@
 }}
-"'''Blame Canada'''" is a song from the 1999 animated musical fantasy comedy film ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'', written by [[Trey Parker]] & [[Marc Shaiman]]. In the song, the parents of the fictional ''[[South Park]]'', led by [[Gerald and Sheila Broflovski|Sheila Broflovski]] ([[Mary Kay Bergman]]), decided to blame Canada for the trouble their children have been getting into since watching the Canadian-made movie ''[[Terrance and Phillip|Terrance and Phillip: Asses of Fire]]'' and imitating what they saw and heard in the movie. "Blame Canada" satirizes [[scapegoating]] and parents that do not control "their children's consumption of [[popular culture]]". The song also appears as an 8-bit remix in the 2014 game ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'', in which it appears as one of the overworld themes for the Canada level.<ref name="Weinstock2008">{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock|title=Taking South Park Seriously|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7OEFij0QkgC&pg=PA61|date=11 September 2008|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-7566-9|pages=61–}}</ref>
+"'''Blame Canada'''" is a satirical song from the 1999 animated film ''[[South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut]]'', written by [[Trey Parker]] and [[Marc Shaiman]]. The song satirizes [[scapegoating]] and parents who fail to control "their children's consumption of [[popular culture]]", with the fictional ''[[South Park]]'' parents, led by [[Gerald and Sheila Broflovski|Sheila Broflovski]] ([[Mary Kay Bergman]]), blaming the nation for children imitating the [[Terrance and Phillip]] film ''Asses of Fire''.
+"Blame Canada" was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] at the [[72nd Academy Awards]]. Parker and [[Matt Stone]] arrived at the ceremony in dresses previously worn by [[Jennifer Lopez]] and [[Gwyneth Paltrow]], and later claimed to be under the influence of [[LSD]] while on the red carpet.<ref>{{cite web |title=When Trey Parker and Matt Stone went to the Oscars on LSD |author=Swapnil Dhruv Bose |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/when-trey-parker-and-matt-stone-went-to-the-oscars-on-lsd/ |website=FarOutMagazine.co.uk|date=27 December 2021 }}</ref>
+An [[Chiptune|8-bit]] remix of the song appears in the 2014 game ''[[South Park: The Stick of Truth]]'', included as one of the overworld themes for the Canada level. The song appears again in the game's 2017 sequel, ''[[South Park: The Fractured but Whole]],'' near the Canadian wall.<ref name="Weinstock2008">{{cite book|author=Jeffrey Andrew Weinstock|title=Taking South Park Seriously|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H7OEFij0QkgC&pg=PA61|date=11 September 2008|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-7566-9|pages=61–}}</ref>
+Shaiman wrote new lyrics for the song in 2023 reflecting conspiracy theories about the [[2023 Canadian wildfires|Canadian wildfires that year]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/marc.shaiman/posts/pfbid0pkQVr6xV7NRtmVQj1n8kxYAEYhjgoZUq8iVxk3AJtTNToBcT9gm1q7Vt97z3seH9l |title=BLAME CANADA 2023|first=Marc|last=Shaiman|work=Facebook|date=June 7, 2023|accessdate=June 8, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.thestar.com/opinion/star-columnists/2023/06/08/blame-canada-why-the-wildfires-are-fuelling-some-pretty-wild-conspiracy-theories.html |title=Blame Canada? Why the wildfires are fuelling some … pretty wild conspiracy theories |author=	Vinay Menon |website=[[Toronto Star]] |date=8 June 2023}}</ref>
 ==Reception==
-The song was [[72nd Academy Awards|nominated]] for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] (1999).  This created controversy because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word ''[[fuck]]'', which the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] prohibits using in prime time broadcasts. At the [[72nd Academy Awards]], comedian [[Robin Williams]] performed the song with a [[choir|chorus]] that gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment and did not actually sing it). He included digs at [[Margaret Trudeau]] and [[Bryan Adams]], partially taken from lyrics of [[Sheila Broflovski]]'s reprise of the song in "[[La Resistance (South Park song)|La Resistance]]". He referenced [[Celine Dion]] as well. [[Mary Kay Bergman]], the voice actress who sang the female parts in the song, committed [[suicide]] months before the performance, forcing the organizers to search for a replacement for her and [[Trey Parker]], who did the male voices. Williams introduced the song by speaking with [[duct tape]] over his mouth so that his speech resembled that of [[Kenny McCormick]], then tearing it off and finally saying [[Stan Marsh]]'s trademark line, "[[Kenny's deaths|Oh my god! They killed Kenny!]]"
+The song was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Original Song]] at the [[72nd Academy Awards]] (1999). This created controversy because all nominated songs are traditionally performed during the Oscar broadcast, but the song contained the word ''[[fuck]]'', which the [[Federal Communications Commission|FCC]] prohibits using in prime time broadcasts. At the awards ceremony, comedian [[Robin Williams]] performed the song with a [[choir|chorus]] that gasped when the word was to be sung (Williams turned around at the crucial moment and did not actually sing it). He included digs at [[Margaret Trudeau]] and [[Bryan Adams]], partially taken from lyrics of [[Sheila Broflovski]]'s reprise of the song in "[[La Resistance (South Park song)|La Resistance]]". He referenced [[Celine Dion]] as well. [[Mary Kay Bergman]], the voice actress who sang the female parts in the song, died months before the performance, forcing the organizers to search for a replacement for her and [[Trey Parker]], who did the male voices. Williams introduced the song by speaking with [[duct tape]] over his mouth so that his speech resembled that of [[Kenny McCormick]], then tearing it off and finally saying [[Stan Marsh]]'s trademark line, "[[Kenny's deaths|Oh my god! They killed Kenny!]]"
-There was also some concern about the fact the song referred to well-known Canadian singer [[Anne Murray]] as a "bitch", but Murray indicated that she was not offended by the tongue-in-cheek lyric (Murray was invited to sing the song herself on the Oscar telecast but had to decline due to a prior commitment). When asked, the Canadian [[Consul General]] (and former [[Prime Minister]]) [[Kim Campbell]] said that she was not offended by the song since it was clearly a silly satirical piece and not intended to insult her country. This is made clear in the final line of the song:
+There was also some concern about the fact the song referred to well-known Canadian singer [[Anne Murray]] as a "bitch", but Murray indicated that she was not offended by the tongue-in-cheek lyric (Murray was invited to sing the song herself on the Oscar telecast but had to decline due to a prior commitment). When asked, the Canadian [[Consul General]] (and former [[prime minister]]) [[Kim Campbell]] said that she was not offended by the song since it was clearly a silly satirical piece and not intended to insult her country. This is made clear in the final line of the song:
 <blockquote>We must blame them and cause a fuss.<br />Before somebody thinks of blaming us!</blockquote>
-Coincidentally, the Canadian Oscar telecast in which Robin Williams sang the song included the premiere of the "[[I Am Canadian]]" rant advertisement, which counters many perceived Canadian stereotypes.
+Coincidentally, the Canadian Oscar telecast in which Williams sang the song included the premiere of the [[Molson Canadian]] "[[I Am Canadian]]" rant advertisement, which counters many perceived [[Stereotypes of Canadians|Canadian stereotypes]].
-The Oscar was instead awarded to [[Phil Collins]]' song "[[You'll Be in My Heart]]" from ''[[Tarzan (1999 film)|Tarzan]]'', which was parodied on an episode of ''South Park'' released the following year, "[[Timmy 2000]]", as "You'll Be in Me". In the episode, Collins acts as the episode's antagonist, and is always seen holding an Oscar statuette. At the end of the episode, it gets painfully stuck up his rectum.
+The song lost to [[Phil Collins]]' song "[[You'll Be in My Heart]]" from ''[[Tarzan (1999 film)|Tarzan]]'', which was parodied on an episode of ''South Park'' released the following year, "[[Timmy 2000]]", as "You'll Be in Me".
 ==See also==
@@ Line 56: / Line 63: @@
 {{South Park}}
 {{Trey Parker and Matt Stone}}
+{{Authority control}}
 {{DEFAULTSORT:Blame Canada}}
 [[Category:1999 songs]]
+[[Category:1999 singles]]
 [[Category:South Park songs]]
 [[Category:Canada–United States relations in South Park]]
@@ Line 64: / Line 72: @@
 [[Category:Songs about Canada]]
 [[Category:Songs written for animated films]]
-[[Category:Songs written for films]]
+[[Category:Fiction about racism]]
+[[Category:Satirical songs]]
+[[Category:Anti-Canadian sentiment]]
+[[Category:Fiction about discrimination]]

Latest revision as of 12:35, 19 September 2024

Reception

See also

References

Bibliography

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