Tim Baker hopes Hey Rosetta!, Yukon Blonde anti-Harper song gets people to vote
'I hope people vote for what they think is right,' he says of Land You Love
The singer for Newfoundland-based band Hey Rosetta! says he's hoping a song co-released with fellow Canadians Yukon Blonde will get people across the country out to vote in the upcoming federal election.
Last week, the two bands released a video for Land You Love to promote an online awareness campaign against Conservative Leader Stephen Harper.
Tim Baker, lead singer for Hey Rosetta!, said the idea came about when fellow Canadian musicians Torquil Campbell from Stars and Dan Mangan sent out notification of an online petition for people to strategically oust Conservative candidates.
It's just these slow, sort of insidious things and it just seems to be moving in this direction that I personally don't want to see our country move in.- Tim Baker
"It's very simple, I just actually wanted to — I hope that some people will hear it and whether they agree with it or not it will spur them into voting," said Baker.
"I hope people vote for what they think is right and the more people who vote, the better — the better for the country."
Baker said the original plan was to find an existing protest song and record a cover version of that, releasing it before the election while the band was on tour in Europe through October.
'A lot to yell about'
But after searching for something suitable that spoke to him about the country's current situation, Baker said he made the decision to just write something new.
"I gave myself an afternoon to see if anything would come out and it just poured forth," he said. "There's a lot to sing about, a lot to yell about when you start getting into what's going on."
According to Baker, there wasn't any one particular issue he focused on, but rather a number of things that spoke to him personally, like health care, environmental protection, and cuts to funding for arts and minority groups.
"The secrecy and the muzzling of scientists and the media and the tarnishing of the country's image in terms of peacekeeping and environmental … it just goes on and on," said Baker.
"It's just these slow, sort of insidious things and it just seems to be moving in this direction that I personally don't want to see our country move in, and I know it hasn't always been like that necessarily, but it could be better."
Baker said if any one person is inspired by the song to go out and vote, the goal was accomplished. While he'll be on tour in Europe for the Oct. 19 election, Baker already voted by sending away for an advanced ballot.