With Influences That Range From A To Zed

In terms of pop culture, the opening ceremonies for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics was a showcase of Canada's most mainstream entertainment — Nelly Furtado, Sarah McLachlan and Bryan Adams — but it was the performance of We Are More by slam poet Shane Koyczan that captured the energy in the room.
An excerpt:

we do more than sit around and say "eh?"
and yes
we are the home of the Rocket and the Great One
who inspired little number nines
and little number ninety-nines
but we're more than just hockey and fishing lines
off of the rocky coast of the Maritimes
and some say what defines us
is something as simple as please and thank you
and as for you're welcome
well we say that too
but we are more
than genteel or civilized
we are an idea in the process
of being realized
we are young
we are cultures strung together
then woven into a tapestry
and the design
is what makes us more
than the sum total of our history

I can't find the performance anywhere as the International Olympic Committee, in its wisdom, is clamping down on anyone doing something ridiculous like positively promoting the games (nor is it available on the official sites either) but there is an earlier version available.




We Are More - Shane Koyczan

Update: I still can't find the ceremony version, but I did come across an interview with Koyczan.

Previously on Popped Culture...
Attention Vancouver Iceholes: Stephen Colbert Is Coming!
This Book Decapitated Michael Ondaatje
Canadian History: The Video Game