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Music

Justin Bieber Covering the Tragically Hip's "Wheat Kings" Puts the Maple Leaf in the Canadian Flag

God keep our brand (and wheat) glorious and free.

Image via YouTube

Justin Bieber is as Canadian as Nanaimo bars and poor bus service in urban areas. But did you also know he had already reached peak Canadianity in 2012 when he performed an acoustic cover of the Tragically Hip's timeless ballad "Wheat Kings"? Well, he did, in Malaysia, and we have this event documented thanks to the ceaseless efforts of the archivists in the Belieber world.

It's glorious. All of it. Even the brutally flubbed note at 44 seconds in. Playing a song that's already acoustic, on acoustic guitar? How much more Canadian can you get? The whole thing gets shot into the mesosphere when Bieber seamlessly segues into his own timeless classic, "One Time," positioning himself into the same pantheon as the Hip. Maybe he does deserve it. Haven't we all adopted "Sorry" as the new "New Orleans Is Sinking" at this point? Even before Purpose cemented his legendary status, Bieber knew. We just had to catch up. Watch the performance below.

Phil Witmer is, in fact, a proud Canadian. Follow or slander him on Twitter.