Songfacts®:

• Chris Cornell wrote this song for the movie Machine Gun Preacher, which is based on the real life story of Sam Childers, a former criminal who travels to East Africa and tries to help the children of Sudan. In working to keep the children safe from a brutal regime, he is able to make peace with his past.
  
  The movie was directed and produced by Marc Forster, who said, "We were thrilled when Chris wrote this beautiful and heartfelt song for us. The first time I heard 'The Keeper,' I immediately saw it in the movie. Chris was able to articulate the essence of Sam's story."
• The song was released as a single to raise money for the Angels of East Africa charity organization.
• The song tells the story of Sam Childers, while also painting a personal picture for Cornell. He told Artist Direct: "I don't think I or anybody could write a song about someone else without the author's personality, thoughts, or emotions included. The old adage is 'Every time you paint someone's picture it's really a self-portrait.' I believe in that to some degree. I think you have to be able to relate to it. If you can relate to the person and your interpretation of that person's feelings and actions, then you can write about their experience as if you were them. You can do that projection, and it's not a big leap from you to them. If you can't, then it's harder. In this case, I can understand where the passion and the empathy would come from. Certainly, there are similar aspects in terms of understanding what it feels like when you're struggling with substance abuse and feeling directionless as well as having that clouded mental feeling and having to dig your way out of that. It's not only difficult to dig your way out and just lead a normal life, but to dig your way out, move on, and do something tremendous like Sam did is something I can see the kernels of. It flowers into his story. That's something he did. Beyond that, there's a whole bunch of inspiration. I think the song really sticks with the idea of imagining that Sam Childers is singing it. What is he singing? It's a sort of testimonial to the kids he puts his life on the line for. In that testimonial, the singer is really saying, 'I'm not Moses. I'm not this grandiose savior to be worshipped. I'm just a guy who has faults, and I know it as much as anybody.' However, this person who does have faults and who isn't Moses is going to be here until he dies doing what he does for others. That was my way of being able to really get into the song without saying that I lived it because I haven't."
• Cornell did some research about the subject matter before writing the song. He was particular inspired by the website for Angels of East Africa, a Children's Village in Southern Sudan founded by Childers and his wife. Cornell told Artist Direct: "For 'The Keeper,' I'd read the script and focused on the web site. There was a photo gallery on the Angels of East Africa web site that I focused on just because I wanted to get a sense of the environment. That, combined with the story, is where the ideas and musical feel came from because the photos are very moving. Some are difficult to see. There are some photos where it looks like the children are suffering. However, most of the pictures in the photo gallery show Sam with a smile surrounded by a bunch of kids who look very happy. They look tended to, cared for, and loved. In the photos, the children are together playing. You'll notice the atmosphere which is unusual. There are pictures of a couple kids standing next to a crashed plane that people have ripped parts off of. There's a photo of kids near a derailed train where the cars have been left and no one's ever done anything. It's an unusual world, but the theme was you did see children who appeared loved and cared for and therefore were happy. They're acting like you'd see my children in a photograph, smiling and being kids. That really influenced the writing of the individual song more than anything."