Courtesy of Swing LeftJackson Browne is one of more than 30 artists who have contributed to a new free digital compilation called Songs for Swing Left intended to encourage people to vote Democratic at this year’s midterm elections on November 6.
The album also will serve to raise awareness about the Swing Left organization’s initiative to mobilize volunteers to inspire more citizens to vote. The various tracks can either be downloaded or streamed for free at SongsforSwingLeft.Bandcamp.com. People downloading any of the songs can connect with Swing Left volunteers in their area and will be informed on how they can take action to help Democrats regain a majority in the House of Representatives.
Each track on the Songs for Swing Left album begins with a message promoting the cause from the artist or artists who recorded the tune. Meanwhile, legendary crooner Tony Bennett recorded a special message for the album without recording a song for the project.
Browne’s contribution is an acoustic rendition of “Far from the Arms of Hunger,” a song from his 2008 album Time the Conqueror. The record also includes a collaboration between Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers keyboardist Benmont Tench and Nickel Creek members Sara and Sean Watkins on a rendition of one of Sara’s solo compositions, “Take Up Your Spade.”
Other artists who recorded songs for the album include Meshell Ndegeocello, comic actor Tim Heidecker, folk veteran Tom Chapin and Portlandia/ex-Saturday Night Live star Fred Armisen as his punk-rock alter ego Ian Rubbish.
Here the full track list of Songs for Swing Left:
“Archipelago” — Andrew Bird with Adam Levy
“Summer Cold” — Bedouine
“Parachute” — Kat Khaleel
“Half Asleep” — Blake Mills
“Over and Over” — Jim James
“Camouflage” — Lo Moon
“American Rhapsody” — Meshell Ndegeocello
“Silent” — Mike Viola
“Full Circle” — Odessa
“Living in the Future” — Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes
“Tobin and the Judge” — Tim Heidecker
“The Stall” — Warpaint
“Take Up Your Spade” — Sean and Sara Watkins with Benmont Tench
“Call Me When I’m Breathing Again” — William Tyler
“My Town Is a Salad Bowl” — Tom Chapin
“A Special Message for You from Tony Bennett” — Tony Bennett
“Bassackwards” — Kurt Vile
“No Other” — Inara George
“Don’t Be Stupid!” — Ian Rubbish (Fred Armisen)
“Buffalo Calf Road” — A. Savage
“Start Again” — Dylan Gardner
“Witness” — Benjamin Booker
“Heads or Tails” — Rodrigo Amarante
“Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)” — Cass McCombs and The Chapin Sisters
“Far from the Arms of Hunger” — Jackson Browne
“Intuition” — Jenny O.
“Wilbur Ross” — Tim Heidecker
“I’ve Been Hiding” — Christian Lee Hutson
“P*** Factory” — Matt Berninger and Blake Mills
“Psycho Star” — King Tuff
“The Ones We Love” — Harrison Whitford
“Sunset America” — Sam Weber
“The Star Spangled Banner” — Jonathan Meiburg
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