"Home for a Rest" is a song by Canadian

folk rock Folk rock is a hybrid music genre that combines the elements of folk and rock music, which arose in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom in the mid-1960s. In the U.S., folk rock emerged from the folk music revival. Performers s ...

band

Spirit of the West Spirit of the West were a Canadian folk rock band from North Vancouver, active from 1983 to 2016. They were popular on the Canadian folk music scene in the 1980s before evolving a blend of hard rock, Britpop, and Celtic folk influences which ...

from their fourth studio album '' Save This House'', released in 1990. It is the band's

signature song A signature (; from la, signare, "to sign") is a handwritten (and often stylized) depiction of someone's name, nickname, or even a simple "X" or other mark that a person writes on documents as a proof of identity and intent. The writer of a ...

and is considered a classic of

Canadian music The music of Canada reflects the diverse influences that have shaped the country. Indigenous Peoples, the Irish, British, and the French have all made unique contributions to the musical heritage of Canada. The music has also subsequently been ...

."Songs to drink away those troubles". ''

Calgary Herald The ''Calgary Herald'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Publication began in 1883 as ''The Calgary Herald, Mining and Ranche Advocate, and General Advertiser''. It is owned by the Postmedia Network. History ''The C ...

'', March 17, 2010. p. D6. Although the song received widespread radio and club airplay throughout the 1990s, it was never officially released as a single in its own right until 2014, when a limited edition single was released for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

Background and writing

Written by John Mann and

Geoffrey Kelly Geoffrey Kelly (born October 23, 1956 in Dumfries, Scotland) is a Canadian rock musician. He played guitars, flutes and bodhrán for the folk rock band Spirit of the West, for whom he was also the lead vocalist on some songs: Geoffrey Kelly and J ...

in 1989 during one of the band's first tours of England, it was originally more of a poem than a full-fledged song.Michael Barclay, Ian A.D. Jack and Jason Schneider, '' Have Not Been the Same: The Can-Rock Renaissance 1985-1995''.

ECW Press ECW Press is a Canadian book publisher located in Toronto, Ontario. It was founded by Jack David and Robert Lecker in 1974 as a Canadian literary magazine named ''Essays on Canadian Writing''. They started publishing trade and scholarly book ...

. . According to producer Danny Greenspoon, the band considered it still a work in progress, and had not brought it to the primary recording sessions for the album; rather, it was brought to Greenspoon's attention only as he was about to conclude work on the project and return home to

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

."The making of Spirit of the West's 'Home for a Rest'"
.

CBC Music CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

, April 18, 2016. Recognizing the song's potential, he immediately worked with the band to resolve their uncertainties about its readiness, and finally recorded it as the last song of the sessions. While originally intended to be a throwaway tune, it wound up on the album ''Save This House'' at the insistence of producer Danny Greenspoon. Kelly in an interview with the

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame The Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame (''Panthéon des Auteurs et Compositeurs canadiens'') is a Canadian non-profit organization, founded in 1998 by Frank Davies, that inducts Canadians into their ''Hall of Fame'' within three different categori ...

:Home for a Rest , Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
cshf.ca

Content

The song tells of a drinking spree in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

: British geographical references such as

Euston Station Euston railway station ( ; also known as London Euston) is a central London railway terminus in the London Borough of Camden, managed by Network Rail. It is the southern terminus of the West Coast Main Line, the UK's busiest inter-city ra ...

Charing Cross Road Charing Cross Road is a street in central London running immediately north of St Martin-in-the-Fields to St Giles Circus (the intersection with Oxford Street) and then becomes Tottenham Court Road. It leads from the north in the direction ...

and

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

appear in the lyrics. The later choruses switch the length of time that the narrator has been gone from a week to a month, and in some live performances change from a month to a year. The song's musical arrangement incorporates the traditional

reel A reel is an object around which a length of another material (usually long and flexible) is wound for storage (usually hose are wound around a reel). Generally a reel has a cylindrical core (known as a '' spool'') with flanges around the ends ...

s "Castle Kelly", "Glass of Beer", and "Swallow's Tail".

Music video

Despite not being released as a single in 1990, a music video was released, which was in rotation on

MuchMusic Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults. MuchMusic launched on August 31, ...

and later available on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

Reception

The

called the song a "rollicking Irish-flavoured song that is played at celebrations from university parties to weddings". In 2018, the song was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame.Spirit of the West’s “Home for a Rest” inducted into Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame
CFHF.ca

Live performances

"Home for a Rest" was always the final song played at the band's concert performances, excepting

encore An encore is an additional performance given by performers after the planned show has ended, usually in response to extended applause from the audience.Lalange Cochrane, in ''Oxford Companion to Music'', Alison Latham, ed., Oxford University Pre ...

s. A live performance of the song at the band's 2015

Massey Hall Massey Hall is a performing arts theatre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1894, it is known for its outstanding acoustics and was the long-time hall of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. An intimate theatre, it was originally designed to sea ...

concert forms the climax of the 2016 documentary film ''

Spirit Unforgettable ''Spirit Unforgettable'' is a Canadian documentary film, which premiered at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival in 2016.Norman Wilner"Spirit Unforgettable" ''NOW'', April 26, 2016. Directed by Pete McCormack,

'';"Review: ‘Spirit Unforgettable’"
'' Point of View'', April 28, 2016. due to Mann's battle with

early-onset Alzheimer's disease Early-onset Alzheimer's disease, also called younger-onset Alzheimer's, is Alzheimer's disease diagnosed before the age of 65. It is an uncommon form of Alzheimer's, accounting for only 5–10% of all Alzheimer's cases. About 60% have a positive ...

, he struggles with the lyrics at first but the entire audience begins singing along.

Certifications

On January 16, 2019, the song was certified platinum in Canada.

Popularity

The song was one of two Canadian songs (the other being "Do the Bearcat" by David Wilcox) to appear on the 1998 compilation album ''

Frosh A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

'', alongside such party anthems as

Iggy Pop James Newell Osterberg Jr. (born April 21, 1947), known professionally as Iggy Pop, is an American singer, musician, songwriter and actor. Called the " Godfather of Punk", he was the vocalist and lyricist of proto-punk band The Stooges, who w ...

's " Lust for Life",

The Village People ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

's "

YMCA YMCA, sometimes regionally called the Y, is a worldwide youth organization based in Geneva, Switzerland, with more than 64 million beneficiaries in 120 countries. It was founded on 6 June 1844 by George Williams in London, originally ...

Denis Leary Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...

's " Asshole", and

Beastie Boys Beastie Boys were an American rap rock group from New York City, formed in 1978. The group was composed of Michael "Mike D" Diamond (vocals, drums), Adam "MCA" Yauch (vocals, bass), and Adam "Ad-Rock" Horovitz (vocals, guitar, programming) ...

' "

(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!) "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" (shortened to "Fight for Your Right" on album releases) is a song by American hip hop group the Beastie Boys, released as the fourth single released from their debut album '' Licensed to Ill'' (1986) ...

". In 1999, the song was named to

CFNY CFNY-FM (''102.1 the Edge'') is a Canadian radio station, broadcasting at 102.1 MHz in the Greater Toronto Area, licensed to the suburb of Brampton. CFNY plays an alternative rock format. Owned by Corus Entertainment, its studios are in Downtown ...

's Top 1002 New Rock Songs of All Time, ranking 689th behind R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People" and ahead of Robert Palmer's "Looking for Clues". In 2007, CFNY named it No. 8 on their Top 102 Canadian New Rock Songs of All Time. In 2005, "Home for a Rest" was named the 22nd greatest Canadian song of all time in a listener vote on the

CBC Radio One CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of C ...

series '' 50 Tracks: The Canadian Version''. The song is also frequently covered by other Canadian folk rock bands, including Mudmen and

Enter the Haggis Enter the Haggis is a Canadian Celtic rock band based in Toronto. The band was founded in 1995 by Craig Downie, the only remaining original member in the lineup, which currently consists of Downie ( highland bagpipes, vocals), Brian Buchanan (vo ...

. Spirit of the West's original recording has also occasionally been misattributed to

Great Big Sea Great Big Sea was a Canadian folk rock band from Newfoundland and Labrador, best known for performing energetic rock interpretations of traditional Newfoundland folk songs including sea shanties, which draw from the island's 500-year Irish, Scot ...

on YouTube and in online lyrics databases. A limited edition single was released for the 2014

. At a November 2017 fundraising benefit concert for Mann's medical care at Vancouver's Commodore Ballroom, the participants recorded a tribute version of the song onsite prior to the concert; participants included

Jim Cuddy James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo. Early life and education Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His Mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch Par ...

Sarah McLachlan Sarah Ann McLachlan OC OBC (born January 28, 1968) is a Canadian singer-songwriter. As of 2015, she had sold over 40 million albums worldwide. McLachlan's best-selling album to date is '' Surfacing'', for which she won two Grammy Awards (ou ...

Ed Robertson Lloyd Edward Elwyn Robertson (born October 25, 1970) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the band Barenaked Ladies. He, along with former member Steven Page, founded the group in 1988. As of Page's ...

Barney Bentall Barnard Franklin "Barney" Bentall (born March 14, 1956) is a Canadian pop/rock singer-songwriter who is most well known for his 1990s-era band, Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts. Their most successful Canadian singles included "Something ...

Colin James Colin James (born Colin James Munn, August 17, 1964) is a Canadian rock and blues singer and songwriter. Biography Early years James was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. His grandpa was Serbian. He got his break opening for Stevie Ray V ...

Shari Ulrich Sharon "Shari" Ulrich (born 17 October 1951) is a Canadian/American musician and songwriter. She has also worked as a television host, actress, film composer, and educator. A multi-instrumentalist, she plays Violin, Mandolin, guitar, piano, and D ...

, and Jim Byrnes. From 2005 to 2016, "Home for a Rest" was the fifth best-selling digitally downloaded 1990s song by a Canadian artist in Canada and the best-selling digitally downloaded 1990s song by a Canadian band in Canada. In 2022, "Home for a Rest" was voted British Columbia's favourite song by a local artist in a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

bracket organised by the CBC's Justin McElroy, narrowly beating out " Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen in the final. Other finalists in the Top 5 were

Nelly Furtado Nelly Kim Furtado (; ; born December 2, 1978) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Furtado has sold over 40 million records worldwide making her one of the most successful Canadian artists. She first gained fame with her trip hop-inspired deb ...

's "

I'm Like a Bird "I'm Like a Bird" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado. It was written by Furtado and produced by Gerald Eaton and Brian West for her debut studio album, ''Whoa, Nelly!'' (2000). Released as the album's first single, it became ...

Raffi Raffi Cavoukian, ( hy, Րաֆֆի, born July 8, 1948), known professionally by the mononym Raffi, is a Canadian singer-lyricist and author of Armenian descent born in Egypt, best known for his children's music. He developed his career as a " ...

's "

Baby Beluga ''Baby Beluga'' is a children's music album by Canadian children's entertainer Raffi, released in 1980. The lead song is about a young beluga whale that swims freely. The album begins with the sounds of beluga whales communicating and includes co ...

" and

's " I Will Remember You".

References

{{authority control 1989 songs Spirit of the West songs Songs about alcohol Songs about London