Searching for a new song for your Canada Day playlist? Canadian GenX icon Bryan Adams may have just released the one, perfect for celebrating Canada and bashing recent threats against the country.
The Kingston-born singer-songwriter released “51st State” on June 30 seemingly with one listener in mind: Donald Trump, who has stated time and again his preposterous desire to absorb Canada into the United States.
“Let me give you some advice, mister,” Adams sings, “We’ll never be the 51st state.”
In a statement accompanying the single’s release, Adams’ team called the song — which showcases Adams’ trademark driving guitar and raspy vocals — a tribute to the “people, communities and values that have shaped the country from coast to coast to coast.”
“I wanted to write something about Canada because Canada is home,” Adams said. “There is more that binds us than divides us. This is a tribute to the pride and spirit of my fellow Canadians — the rest is just noise.”
Over the speakers, the 66-year-old’s new anthem bears more than a passing resemblance to “Summer of ‘69,” the mega-hit 1984 single Adams is best known for (it has over 150 million views on YouTube).
The new track pairs that classic sound with lyrics chock-full of messages to Trump.
“Let me give it to you straight / When you’re talking about my home / You better show some respect / ‘Cause up here, we take care of our own,” Adams sings to rocking, high-tempo guitars.
Adams also tells Trump in verse he can load Canada up with tariffs, but Canada will “never be the 51st state.”
Perhaps fitting for an artist synonymous with nostalgia, Adams’ lyrics include nods to the good-old-days of Canadian-American friendship, too, singing: “Maybe you’ve forgotten / Maybe you just don’t care / But we always stick beside you / For that liberty we share.”
The earworm recalls last year’s elbows-up Canada Day celebrations; just months after Trump had taken office for the second time, already having made annexation “jokes” multiple times, Canadians country-wide felt a greater need to be openly patriotic.
Trump’s latest 51st-state tirade came at the start of June, when he posted the threat to his platform Truth Social late at night, linking to a Bloomberg story reporting Canada has dipped into a “technical recession” for the first time since 2020.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, who previously shrugged off Trump’s 51st state talk as joking, had reposted the president’s comment on X.
In the YouTube comments, Canadians praised Adams for sticking up for the country, while American fans of the singer sent apologies on their president’s behalf.
