Future Soundtrack for America
Future Soundtrack for America is a benefit album for Music for America and MoveOn.org released in 2004 by Barsuk Records and McSweeney's and compiled by Spike Jonze and They Might Be Giants' founding member John Flansburgh. Each CD bore the legend, "100% of our profits from this CD will go to non-profit progressive organizations working to involve more Americans in our political process, to advocate for ordinary people and traditional American values, and to help keep the United States a country all of us can be proud of. Thank you for your support." Most songs were either rare or exclusive to this compilation album at the time it was released. The CD was also included in The Future Dictionary of America, published simultaneously by McSweeney's.
| Future Soundtrack for America | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Compilation album by Various artists | |
| Released | August 17, 2004 |
| Recorded | Various |
| Genre | Alternative, indie rock, folk, hip hop |
| Label | Barsuk Records |
| Producer | Various |
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Rolling Stone |   link |
| Allmusic |  link |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.4/10) link |
At a They Might Be Giants concert at The Catalyst in Santa Cruz, California, the night before its release, Flansburgh had this to say about the album: "We made some very, very cold, cold calls to our...fake, fake rock friends that we don't even know, to talk them into being on this thing, ladies and gentlemen." He then added, "One more thing: If you're not registered to vote, what's up with that?"
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Performer | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "This Will Be Our Year" (The Zombies cover) | Chris White | OK Go | 2:05 |
| 2. | "Ain't Got So Far to Go" | David Byrne | David Byrne | 4:07 |
| 3. | "Game of Pricks (BBC Evening Session)" (Guided by Voices cover) | Robert Pollard | Jimmy Eat World | 1:53 |
| 4. | "This Temporary Life" | Benjamin Gibbard, Nick Harmer, Jason McGerr, Chris Walla | Death Cab for Cutie | 4:37 |
| 5. | "I Miss You" (James Guthrie mix) | Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus | Blink-182 | 4:26 |
| 6. | "Move On" | Mike Doughty | Mike Doughty | 4:14 |
| 7. | "Jerry Falwell Destroyed Earth" | Ben Kweller | Ben Kweller | 1:22 |
| 8. | "Off with Your Head" | Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker, Janet Weiss | Sleater-Kinney | 2:27 |
| 9. | "Final Straw" (MoveOn mix) | Peter Buck, Mike Mills, Michael Stipe | R.E.M. | 4:07 |
| 10. | "Going for the Gold" (live, probably Feb. 24, 2004, Loew's Jersey Theatre, Jersey City, NJ) | Conor Oberst | Bright Eyes | 5:46 |
| 11. | "The Commander Thinks Aloud" (Future Mix) | John Roderick | The Long Winters | 4:20 |
| 12. | "Money" (feat. Huck Fynn, Oezlem, and the Horn Dogs) | William Adams | will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas | 4:10 |
| 13. | "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" (a campaign song from the US presidential election of 1840) | Alexander Coffman Ross (lyrics) | They Might Be Giants | 1:39 |
| 14. | "The Ballad of David Icke" | Eef Barzelay | Clem Snide | 1:51 |
| 15. | "Date With the Night" (live, March 17, 2004, The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA) | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | Yeah Yeah Yeahs | 3:03 |
| 16. | "Everything's Ruined" (acoustic) | Chris Collingwood, Adam Schlesinger | Fountains of Wayne | 2:22 |
| 17. | "Your Legs Grow" | Matthew Caws, Ira Elliot, Daniel Lorca | Nada Surf | 2:45 |
| 18. | "Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots" (live on the BBC) | Wayne Coyne, Steven Drozd, Dave Fridmann, Michael Ivins | The Flaming Lips | 3:29 |
| 19. | "Northern Line" | David Roback, Kendra Smith | Old 97's | 4:24 |
| 20. | "Sam Stone" (John Prine cover) | John Prine | Laura Cantrell | 4:44 |
| 21. | "Day After Tomorrow" | Tom Waits, Kathleen Brennan | Tom Waits | 5:59 |
| 22. | "A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to Be Free" | Elliott Smith | Elliott Smith | 4:31 |
External links
- Billboard article about Future Soundtrack for America
- The Future Dictionary of America, McSweeney's page for the Future Dictionary / Future Soundtrack bundle