Bryan Adams Releases 'Lake Ontario' Protesting the Lake's Renaming, Says '51st State' Drew Standing Ovations Nightly in the U.S.
Canadian rock singer Bryan Adams released a new single, 'Lake Ontario,' on October 28, responding to President Trump's executive order renaming Lake Ontario 'Lake America.' The song appears as a bonus track on the digital edition of his new album How's It Goin', due November 6 via BAD Records, and its official music video was released the same day.
'The lake of shining waters is what the Iroquois called her,' Adams sings. 'It's a First Nations name, not an executive order.' In the lyrics, Adams accuses the renaming of 'breaking the peace' between the people who live on the lake's shores, and weaves in references to Iran and the Epstein files, presenting the renaming as a distraction. These are the views expressed in the song itself, Adams's own criticism of the order.
Trump signed an executive order in August directing U.S. federal agencies to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America,' echoing his earlier decision to rename the Gulf of Mexico the 'Gulf of America.' The lake straddles the U.S.-Canada border, and the Canadian province of Ontario is named after the lake. GSM reported on the renaming order in August.
The album also includes '51st State,' released on July 1, Canada Day, as a repudiation of Trump's talk of annexing Canada. Adams told The Hollywood Reporter in an exclusive interview that the first time he played the song in public in the United States, he was unsure how audiences would respond. 'We got a standing ovation every night for it,' he said. 'It made me think: perhaps, finally, the tide's turning.'
Adams has described the album as a 'love letter' to Canada: the project began with an invitation from a film company to write about Canada's Maritime provinces and grew into a full album, including homages to Canadian heroes. Writing about 'Lake Ontario' on his official website, Adams said: 'Empires and regimes, dictators and kings, they all come and go. Lake Ontario is forever.' He called it a song for all the sane people on both shores. The official 'Lake Ontario' video, released on Bryan Adams's official channel, is presented with this story.
Source: GSM · USA
Related: Trump Signs Executive Order Renaming Lake Ontario 'Lake America'
Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：加拿大歌手布莱恩·亚当斯（Bryan Adams）演出照。Marco Maas 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Canadian singer Bryan Adams performing. Photo by Marco Maas, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
