The Thermals Defend Their Loved, Loathed 'Canada' Song

There are plenty of reasons to love Canada: hockey, maple syrup, free health care, Pamela Anderson -- the list goes on. According to the Thermals frontman Hutch Harris, though, none of these were the true inspiration for his band's playful ode to the Great White North. The Portland-based musician says the aptly titled 'Canada' is actually an undercover dig at Buffalo, NY.

"As far as a city to play, Buffalo is not that much fun," Harris tells Spinner. "We were there, in the van, and had just had a really rough show, and for some reason I just started playing these chords and singing about Canada because we were going to Toronto the next day and were really excited about playing the Horseshoe [Tavern]. [Singer-bassist] Kathy [Foster] just started in with the 'woah woah woahs,' and all of a sudden, our drummer Westin [Glass] was like, 'What song is that?' and I'm like, 'It's a song we wrote right now.'"

Before long, the playful tune was recorded with the help of Death Cab For Cutie's Chris Walla (the man behind the Thermals forthcoming record, 'Personal Life') and shipped out to a radio station in Toronto. 'The Canada Song,' as the track quickly became known throughout the blogosphere, divided both fans and music critics.

"That song has been half-loved and half-hated," laughs Harris. "To the people that don't like it, it seems insincere. I don't think they quite get the sense of humour behind the song, though. It was just supposed to be really fun and off-the-cuff."

The Thermals - Canada by killrockstars

While Harris could easily roll his eyes at the negative feedback, he takes the high road and gives the topic some serious consideration.

"I want to say that we don't listen to any criticism, but that's not totally true," he says. "We're always going to do what we want to do, but for better or worse, there's a seriousness attached to the band. The people who really love the band take it really seriously, so we try to respect why people like the band. We don't want to pander to our fans, but we do want the people who like the band to keep liking it.

"Music has this real power to it," the singer-guitarist continues. "People attach a lot of memories to it, which is why, when people ask how come we've turned down some ads and stuff, we're always like, 'We don't want you to attach your memories of this song to an advertisement.' We're really conscious of that."

Looks like they're also mindful of learning from past experiences -- the band just announced a fall tour to support their upcoming album, 'Personal Life', out Sept. 7. Noticeably absent is a Buffalo date, but they will return to Toronto in October. No word yet on whether they'll perform the 'Canada' song.