Beyonce Salutes Canada With Alanis Morissette, Sarah McLachlan Covers

Beyoncé's I Am... Sasha Fierce tour arrived in Canada, where the singer celebrated our neighboring country's rich musical history by performing songs by two of Canada's most well-known female artists at her opening show at Edmonton, Alberta's Rexall Arena. In the video above, Beyoncé and her all-girl band segue out of "If I Were a Boy" into an awesome abbreviated version of Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know." Later, Mrs. Jay-Z donned a wedding dress for an a cappella version of "Angel" by Nova Scotia native Sarah McLachlan (video after the jump.) With three more Canadian shows in cities like Saskatoon, Winnipeg and Vancouver on the way, here's hoping Beyoncé busts out some Arcade Fire, Leonard Cohen, Neil Young and Feist before heading back to the States. And no Nickelback covers, please.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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