Party With a Purpose is an album produced by the Green Party of Pennsylvania. It contains 15 songs which reflect on what the Green Party of the United States stands for. The album was sold on their website, but only in 2003 and 2004. It is one of the three albums produced by an affiliate of the Green Party, the other two being From the Grass Roots, Volume 1 and Idaho Greentracks: A Party Sampler.
Songs[1][]
| Party With a Purpose | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song # | Song Name | Artist(s) | Found? | Release Year | Notes |
| 1 | Stupid's Pledge | Vicki Smedley Diana Abreu Gary Gyekis Rich Stomackin Bill Smedley |
No | N/A | A recited pledge. |
| 2 | Needles on the Beach | The Horse Flies | Yes | 1991 | Uploaded to YouTube on July 3rd, 2018. The artist is incorrectly credited as The Horseflies on pagreenparty.org. |
| 3 | Rebuild America, Keep Hope Alive | Anne Feeney | Yes | 2001 | |
| 4 | Breath of the Earth | Jim Beer & The River (Unami)[2] | Yes | 2002 | |
| 5 | Dogs in the Street | The Earthtones | No | 1989[3] | |
| 6 | Carnivals | Chris Chandler Anne Feeney |
Yes (Live Performance) | 2003 (Live Performance) | Performed at the Kerrville Folk Festival, uploaded to YouTube on March 20th, 2007. |
| 7 | Dust | Gary Gyekis | No | N/A | |
| 8 | Song For Mother | Mike Morningstar Rick Roberts |
No | N/A | |
| 9 | No Glow | Dennis Donnelly | Yes | 1994[4] | Uploaded to Soundcloud on November 19th, 2014. |
| 10 | Poison World | Steve Diana Abreu |
No | N/A | |
| 11 | Sarowiwa | Magpie | Yes | 1999 | Track spelled as "Saro WiWa" on pagreenparty.org. |
| 12 | Unity & Diversity | One World Tribe | Yes | Uncertain | Released in 2011 according to the metadata. |
| 13 | Swimming to the Other Side | Pat Humphries | Yes | 2001 | |
| 14 | Sacred Ground | Spirit Wing | Uncertain | 2002[5] | Released in 2015, the artist is Native Spirit. |
| 15 | True Colors | Triplets | No | N/A | |
Trivia[]
- Even though this album is supposed to contain songs by Pennsylvanian artists, it contains songs by artists from outside of the state. The Horse Flies, for example, are from Ithaca, New York.
- "Rebuild America, Keep Hope Alive" is dedicated to victims of police brutality in the United States, such as Rodney King.
- This issue gained national attention again on May 26th, 2020, 19 years after the song was released, when a video of George Floyd's murder by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin went viral. This event and the killing of Breonna Taylor which happened two months earlier resulted in a summer of civil unrest in many cities and a resurgence of support for the Black Lives Matter movement which faded in 2022, 2 years later. The George Floyd protests are said to be the largest in US history.
- "Carnivals" samples the song "The Man on the Flying Trapeze," but in a minor key. The song also samples the 1984 American patriotic song "God Bless the USA" by Lee Greenwood. The latter is parodied as "I Love My SUV," which is also the last lyric.
- The lyrics of the parody reference post-9/11/01 patriotism and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 which offered a $100,000 USD tax credit to business owners when a fully loaded vehicle weighing 6,000 lbs or more was purchased.[6] The latter is also referenced in "In Defense of Natalie Maines," a song featured on Idaho Greentracks: A Party Sampler.
- "Sarowiwa" is dedicated to Ken Saro-Wiwa, a Nigerian environmental activist. He was a member of the Ogoni People and led the movement for their survival, which was a non-violent campaign against environmental degradation. On November 10th, 1995, Saro-Wiwa and eight other activists were executed by hanging by the Nigerian government. These events are mentioned in the song.