"Canadian Idiot" is a song by American

parody A parody is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satire, satirical or irony, ironic imitation. Often its subject is an Originality, original work or some aspect of it (theme/content, author, style, e ...

musician

"Weird Al" Yankovic Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic ( ; born October 23, 1959) is an American comedy musician, writer, and actor. He is best known for writing and performing Comedy music, comedy songs that often Parody music, parody specific songs by contempo ...

, released on 26 September 2006 from his album ''

Straight Outta Lynwood ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' is the twelfth studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic, released on September 26, 2006, the title drawing inspiration from hip hop group N.W.A's ''Straight Outta Compton''. It was the sixth stu ...

''. It is a parody of

Green Day Green Day is an American Rock music, rock band formed in Rodeo, California, in 1987 by lead vocalist and guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong and bassist and backing vocalist Mike Dirnt, with drummer Tré Cool joining in 1990. In 1994, their majo ...

's song "

American Idiot ''American Idiot'' is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Green Day, released on September 21, 2004, by Reprise Records. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo in collaboration with the group. Recording sessions for ''American ...

". The song is a sarcastic parody of the

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalization, generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can ...

American view of the Canadian way of life and a satire of American

xenophobia Xenophobia (from (), 'strange, foreign, or alien', and (), 'fear') is the fear or dislike of anything that is perceived as being foreign or strange. It is an expression that is based on the perception that a conflict exists between an in-gr ...

. Yankovic pokes fun at an accentuated Canadian dialect and Canadians' love of

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

beer Beer is an alcoholic beverage produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches from cereal grain—most commonly malted barley, although wheat, maize (corn), rice, and oats are also used. The grain is mashed to convert starch in the ...

macaroni and cheese Macaroni and cheese (colloquially known as mac and cheese and known as macaroni cheese in the United Kingdom) is a pasta dish of macaroni covered in cheese sauce, most commonly cheddar sauce. Its origins trace back to cheese and pasta casserol ...

, and

doughnuts A doughnut or donut () is a type of pastry made from leavened fried dough. It is popular in many countries and is prepared in various forms as a sweet snack that can be homemade or purchased in bakeries, supermarkets, food stalls, and franch ...

. At the end of the song, he says that the Canadians are "up to something" and calls for a "

preemptive strike A preemptive war is a war that is commenced in an attempt to repel or defeat a perceived imminent offensive or invasion, or to gain a strategic advantage in an impending (allegedly unavoidable) war ''shortly before'' that attack materializes. I ...

". Although critical reception to the song was mixed, "Canadian Idiot" is among Yankovic's best-charting songs, peaking at 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. He included it on the set lists of four of his concert tours, and fans responded with hundreds of homemade music videos.

Composition and themes

"Canadian Idiot" is

's parody of "

", a 2004

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

anthem An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to sho ...

. While the original critiques American media, the parody amusingly mentions several common American stereotypes about Canadians, such as the perception Canadians love

and

. After ranting about Canadians being stupid and ridiculous, the singer mentions some of the country's positive attributes. However, believing Canadian over-politeness to be disingenuous and that Canadians are "up to something", the singer calls for a "

" against Canada. Yankovic has said the lyrics reflect the viewpoint of an ignorant American and that the song is "a love letter to Canada". Yankovic's time in Canada during his career, in particular at cable music channel

MuchMusic Much is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. It is headquartered at 299 Queen Street West in what was o ...

, was such that he "felt like an honorary Canadian". While hoping that listeners understood the song is a joke, Yankovic was a bit worried about how "irony-impaired people" would receive it. In ''Weird Al: Seriously'', musicologist Lily Hirsch notes the lyrics reprimand Canadians for not being like Americans, and are an ironic look at American

. She notes the line in which the singer admits to being "nervous" about Canada, and how it stands apart from the rest of the song like "a radioed request for help". Hirsch wrote that the parody had the same energy and drive as the original but its message was more veiled and some missed its irony. She quotes blogger

Nathan Rabin Nathan Rabin () is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for ''The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013.

: Canadian Idiot' is fundamentally about the way we demonize people who are not like us, even when those differences actually make them better than us, not worse." Illustrating this, Hirsch notes that, like Yankovic's 1992 song "Trigger Happy", "Canadian Idiot" satirizes

gun culture in the United States Gun culture in the United States refers to the behaviors, attitudes, and beliefs surrounding the ownership and use of firearms by private citizens. Gun ownership is deeply rooted in the History of the United States, country’s history and is le ...

. The singer disparages Canadians for not carrying firearms in public places but later refers to the country's low crime rates, "implying a relationship between gun ownership and crime". Sociologist Shoshana Magnet notes the song's effective use of common but conflicting stereotypes, such as how it "mocks Canadian earnestness ... while paying homage to the continued Canadian commitment to the welfare state".

Recording and release

"Canadian Idiot" is the first parody Yankovic recorded for ''

'', with production beginning on 19 February 2006. The song was released with the album and as a digital single on 26 September 2006. The song appeared on the ''Billboard'' charts despite not having a physical single in the US. It peaked at 82 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, No. 35 on

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Song Sales (previously named Digital Songs and Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Luminate and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally started tracking so ...

, and No. 57 on the

Pop 100 The Pop 100 was a songs chart that debuted in February 2005 and was released weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine in the United States until its discontinuation in 2009. It ranked songs based on airplay on Mainstream Top 40 radio stations, singles s ...

. Promotional single-CDs of "Canadian Idiot" were pressed in Australia and shipped for play on radio stations.

Live performances

"Canadian Idiot" was the second song performed on Yankovic's 2007–08 ''Straight Outta Lynwood''

concert tour A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...

, following a polka medley. In an interview with ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'', Yankovic said of the tracks on the album "Canadian Idiot" was "the most fun to perform live". Audience response was positive enough that he included the song on the set lists of three subsequent album tours. During performances of the song on the ''Straight Outta Lynwood'' tour, Yankovic and his band wore black collared shirts and red ties, similar to that which Armstrong wore at ''

'' performances and promotions. On subsequent tour performances, Yankovic wore a red-and-white jacket patterned with maple leaves. The first Canadian performance of the song was to 4,000 fans at the

MTS Centre Canada Life Centre (formerly Bell MTS Place) is an indoor arena in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the home of the National Hockey League's Winnipeg Jets and their American Hockey League affiliate, the Manitoba Moose. The arena stand ...

in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 20 June 2007. Rob Williams of the ''

Winnipeg Free Press The ''Free Press'' (or FP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press''; previously known as the ''Winnipeg Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, natio ...

'' wrote that the polka medley and "Canadian Idiot" were "the perfect way to start" his return to Canada and rated the concert 4 out of 5 stars. David Schmeichel of the ''

Winnipeg Sun The ''Winnipeg Sun'' is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is owned by The Klein Group circa 2024.Following its acquisition of Sun Media, opinion plus an emphasis on local news stories, and ex ...

'' wrote that the song was received well, included the

McKenzie Brothers Bob and Doug McKenzie are a pair of fictional Canadian brothers who hosted "Great White North", a sketch which was introduced on '' SCTV'' for the show's third season when it moved to CBC Television in 1980. Bob is played by Rick Moranis and D ...

' signature "Call of the Loon" as a chorus and concluded with an explosion of red and white streamers. After the song, Yankovic joked to the audience, "This is the first time we've played that in Canada so thanks for not killing us." A performance of "Canadian Idiot" at Toronto's

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts auditorium in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and the Toronto Mendelssohn Choir. Although original ...

on 16 July 2011 is included in the concert video '' "Weird Al" Yankovic Live!: The Alpocalypse Tour''. It aired on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American Cable television in the United States, cable television channel, channel owned by Paramount Global through its Paramount Media Networks, network division's Paramount Media Networks#MTV Entertainment Group, MTV Ente ...

on 1 October 2011 and was released on Blu-ray and DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment later that month. On 19 February 2013, Yankovic performed "Canadian Idiot" with independent artists

Portugal. The Man Portugal. The Man is an Alaskan rock band from Wasilla, Alaska and based in Portland, Oregon. The group consists of John Baldwin Gourley, Zach Carothers, Kyle O'Quin, Eric Howk and Zoe Manville. Gourley and Carothers met and began playing music t ...

to close a one-hour telethon-styled webcast announcing the lineup for the

Bonnaroo Music Festival Bonnaroo (or Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival) is an American annual four-day music festival developed and founded by Superfly Presents and AC Entertainment. Bonnaroo has taken place at what is now Great Stage Park, a 700-acre (280 ha) fa ...

. The song was included in a special free outdoor show of the ''

Mandatory Fun ''Mandatory Fun'' is the fourteenth and possible final studio album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. The self-produced album was released by RCA Records in the United States on July 15, 2014. Yankovic had previously released '' ...

'' tour on 21 July 2015 at

Place des festivals Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, a populated area lacking its own municipal government * "Place", a type of street or road name ** Oft ...

in Montreal, Quebec, as part of the Just For Laughs comedy festival. Despite some early rain, attendance in the public square approached its capacity of 25,000.

Reception

Fan-made music videos

Fans created homemade music videos, ranging from crude animation to choreographed

lip-sync Lip sync or lip synch (pronounced , like the word ''sink'', despite the spelling of the participial forms ''synced'' and ''syncing''), short for lip synchronization, is a technical term for matching a speaking or singing person's lip movements ...

hronization, embracing the song's bizarre imagery, which were posted on YouTube. Many of the young filmmakers were admittedly ignorant about Canada, and perhaps also of the song's irony, drawing criticism in YouTube's comment sections. At the end of 2006, the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' put the song on its "naughty list" for inviting "hundreds of young Americans

o create O, or o, is the fifteenth letter and the fourth vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''o'' (pronounced ), p ...

Youtube videos" mocking Canada. Canadian music channel

ran a contest for the song, calling for entrants to submit a video of themselves being the "ultimate Canadian idiot". Five winning clips were to be shown on '' Much on Demand''. Some time after the deadline of 27 December 2006, the contest was canceled because of a lack of submissions. Later, an update brought the project back, and the five finalists received digital cameras and a personalized recording from Yankovic.

Critical reception

Critical reception to the song was mixed. David Jeffries of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

applauded "Canadian Idiot" as one of the better contributions on an "inspired" album. ''

The Hamilton Spectator ''The Hamilton Spectator'', founded in 1846, is a newspaper published weekdays and Saturdays in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. One of the largest Canadian newspapers by circulation, ''The Hamilton Spectator'' is owned by Torstar. History ''The Ha ...

''s Jeff Mahoney wrote that the song is a great parody and "a delicious shish kebab of Great White North cliches". Chris Carle of

IGN ''IGN'' is an American video gaming and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa district and is headed by its former e ...

likened the parody to Yankovic giving Canada a spanking. A review in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'' described the song as a repetitive "one-liner". Al Shipley of ''

Stylus A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...

'' called the song a "toothless" send-up of tired Canadian stereotypes. ''

Slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...

''s Sam Anderson described the song as "formulaic and calculated" as if generated by a computer. Scott Shetler of ''

Slant Magazine ''Slant Magazine'' is an American online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New Yor ...

'' felt it had "predictable jokes" which had been done better on ''South Park'' with the satirical song " Blame Canada".

Chart performance

Personnel

Credits from the liner notes of ''

The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic ''The Essential "Weird Al" Yankovic'' is a two disc compilation album by the American parody musician "Weird Al" Yankovic. A limited edition "3.0" version of the album has a third disc. It is published by Sony Music's Legacy Recordings L ...

'': *

– lead & background vocals * Jim West – guitars *

Steve Jay Eugene Stephen Jay (born January 26, 1951) is an American bassist, best known for working with "Weird Al" Yankovic. Early life Jay was born Eugene Stephen Jay in Detroit, Michigan on January 26, 1951. He auditioned for "Weird Al" Yankovic in 1 ...

– bass guitar * Jon "Bermuda" Schwartz – drums

Legacy

At the 2007 NHL Western Conference Quarter Finals, fans of the

Dallas Stars The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey team based in Dallas. The Stars compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division (NHL), Central Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conference. The Stars ...

voted for "Canadian Idiot" to be played during the intermission of a game against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. The Canucks compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division (NHL), Pacific Division in the Western Conference (NHL), Western Conferenc ...

. The Stars were eliminated. In 2013 and 2017, ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'' magazine included "Canadian Idiot" on lists of fictional stories about the beginning of a Canada–US war. In 2014, ''Billboard'' evaluated "Canadian Idiot" as Yankovic's 10th biggest hit, based on cumulative chart performance.

Footnotes

Notes

References

External links

"Canadian Idiot" from ''Straight Outta Lynwood''
– 4 June 2018, post on Nathan Rabin's Happy Place blog.

at Allthingsyank.com (archived)
Directory of fan-made videos
at Weirdal.com * {{authority control 2006 songs 2006 singles American punk rock songs Canada–United States relations in popular culture Green Day Satirical songs Songs about Canada Cultural depictions of Canadian people Songs with lyrics by "Weird Al" Yankovic Songs written by Billie Joe Armstrong "Weird Al" Yankovic songs American pop punk songs American Idiot