Bryan Adams is thinking hard about a war with the U.S. Namely, the Battle of Lundy’s Lane from 1814.
That conflict, between the U.S. and British forces defending what would become Canada, was a turning point in the War of 1812 that helped define the permanent borders between the two countries. It’s apropos source material for a track on Adams’ new, vociferously Canadian album “How’s It Goin’.”
“I learned a lot because I started looking up things about Canada which I didn’t know about, even though I’m from Canada. A lot of people have been saying to me, ‘Wow, I didn’t even know about the Battle of Lundy’s Lane, or the story of how Newfoundland got together,’” Adams said, calling after a recent show in Las Vegas. “That was sort of a defining battle between North and South, but nobody won it. It was just that the lines had been drawn, and those lines still stand today.”
Given how belligerent Canada’s southern neighbor has been lately, it feels defiant now too.
Adams, who rose to superstardom in the ’80s and ’90s with ageless singles like “Summer of ’69” and “Please Forgive Me,” now throws up “a wall of maple” to the Trump administration’s meddling on the single “51st State.” He roasts the U.S. president over the Epstein files, pays homage to the natural beauty of the Great White North, and weaves tales of Canadian history in the fine tradition of protest folk and heartland rock.
Adams spoke about the First Nations roots behind the blistering single “Lake Ontario,” learning his own country’s history to write the record, and handling American fans who apologize for what their country is doing to his.
I can’t say I’ve heard a more forceful assertion of Canadian sovereignty on a record before. How have Canadian audiences taken to it?
Our main Canadian tour was last year and the response was great, but I hadn’t finished “Lake Ontario,” so that song didn’t get played live until this week here in Las Vegas. “51st State” goes over really well. We debuted that song in St. Louis on our American tour this summer, and every night it got a standing ovation, which surprised us because we were playing a lot of red states. We were playing in Texas, and every night people just stood up.
Did you expect otherwise?
It’s one of the few times I can remember all of my road crew coming out for a song. Anybody working production or catering, they’d all come out for that song every night and stand on the side of the stage to watch the reaction. The song is getting zero traction on radio, no media, nothing. It’s literally just when they hear the lyrics, they respond.
Was it interesting to have to really think about your Canadian-ness, as an artist?
I kind of wished Gordon Lightfoot would still have been around. I would have asked him to sing on the record. Gordon and I were good friends, and I was thinking about him during the course of writing.
Between Lightfoot and Gord Downie and countless others, rock and folk music genuinely tie Canadian cultural identity together. Was that tradition on your mind writing this album?
I think there’s definitely a space for it. Seeing the reaction to these songs, and the overall feeling and the messages I’m getting from all kinds of people around the country and around the world, it feels like they needed someone to stand up. But I wasn’t trying to do that. I want you to know that I’m not angry. I’m just writing about what I see, and it came very quickly.
The title track is kind of Canada’s answer to “I Love L.A.” The Capilano Bridge, Lake Louise, Bruce Peninsula, Davie Street — there’s something for fans from the Yukon to the Maritimes there.
There’s not a lot of songs that talk about things that are Canadian, like the fact that we have legalized marijuana, and America doesn’t. But I saw a photograph of Woody Guthrie, and he’s holding a guitar, and it says, “This machine kills fascists.” This was just me sort of channeling a sort of a Woody Guthrie type of thing. I was thinking about about him when I was trying to put those words together, try to fit in as many corners of the country, even our expressions.
You also write about Terry Fox, the athlete and amputee who ran across most of Canada. He’s someone every Canadian knows that will be foreign to most of the world.
Terry is, if I might be so bold, the world’s greatest athlete. It’s a story that all of us can take something from because it’s about self-sacrifice, overcoming adversity. At that particular time, there was a lot of talk of separatism with Quebec. Out of nowhere comes this guy from B.C. who’s just raising money for cancer. He becomes a national hero, and the separatism story become second page.
If you were to ask any Canadian about Terry Fox, even though he didn’t get across Canada, most people would say, “Oh, Terry, he made it all the way.”
There’s been a bit of an Alberta secessionist campaign lately, so that seems apropos today too.
Everybody that works in the government needs to listen to the people. But they pulled a referendum, and nobody wants to leave Canada.
“Lake Ontario” is very explicit about the First Nations history of that name and why it’ll never be changed, even if Google Maps or the U.S. president says so.
I think it’s very important that people recognize the history, and that’s what a lot of this album’s about. There’s a lot to be learned from the past, and especially with Lake Ontario, because we have an extraordinary Indigenous population in Canada. As somebody that grew up in British Columbia around the Haida and the different tribes that come from there, it’s steeped in my genes to recognize that.
It’s about respect, you know? Have some respect for the past, and not just decide one day “Oh, I just think this is better for for America or whatever, I’m just gonna just change s—,” you know? There’s no discussion with Canada, no going through Congress, no nothing. Just “I’m just gonna do this and piss people off.”
Do American fans ever unburden their guilt to you about what’s been going on?
A little bit. Not too much, but I have heard things. There’s just a lot of eye rolling that happens if the conversation ever comes up, and apologies do come up as well. You just have to take it with the best humor as you can, and just as I said on my last album, roll with the punches.
I do hope that people look at what’s going on and consider the promises that were made, and reflect on what those promises are today. That should be a fairly good guideline for what direction the next two years could possibly be.
Are you ever worried about the U.S. government retaliating for writing about Epstein and making fun of the president?
No, not really. I didn’t really consider it, but next time I go through customs, I’ll have a think.
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