'Home for a Rest' voted British Columbians' favourite song by a local artist, beats 'Call Me Maybe'
CBC
A staple of weddings and karaoke nights in B.C. has beaten out a pop megahit beloved by the queer community, as Home for a Rest by Spirit of the West was voted the favourite song by a B.C. artist over Call Me Maybe by Carly Rae Jepsen.
More than 100,000 votes were cast on Twitter over a week and a half during the #bcsongbracket, run by none other than CBC B.C.'s resident ranker-of-things, municipal affairs reporter Justin McElroy.
It was a photo finish on Tuesday, with Home for a Rest edging out Call Me Maybe by less than two per cent of votes cast. More than 20,000 votes were cast in the final round alone.
Home for a Rest was produced in 1990 by folk rock band Spirit of the West, who are originally from North Vancouver. The song is considered a classic of Canadian music, and details a rowdy drinking session in London, England.
Jepsen's 2011 hit Call Me Maybe, from her EP Curiosity, was produced in Richmond. The song about flirting with a stranger catapulted the singer — originally from Mission in the Fraser Valley — into international stardom.
"There's this real sense of identity and linkage towards these bands and these songs, which has been fun to see," McElroy said.
"[It's] partly a fun distraction, but partly a thing that just links us all together and has been a joy to watch people debate about it through the last week."
The Twitter poll was thorough, with over 700 nominations considered and meticulous seeding conducted to determine the 32-song bracket.
Songs were separated into "Classic" and "Modern" sections, with the year 1995 serving as the cut-off point between the two categories.
Geoffrey Kelly, one of Spirit of the West's founders and co-writer of Home for a Rest, described the win as "heartwarming."
"Considering the song is 33 years old now and it still has this resonance with folks … it's really uplifting," he told Gloria Macarenko, host of CBC's On The Coast.
"I think Justin did a terrific job of including so many different styles of music … so kudos to him for organizing this whole wonderful thing."
WATCH | As voted for by Twitter, B.C.'s favourite song by a local artist:
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