Listen: Chris Cornell - "The Keeper"

Yeah, we're as surprised as you are. "Beauty and truth collide where love meets genocide" sings Chris Cornell in his fine new song "The Keeper", the lead track from the upcoming Mark Forster-directed film Machine Gun Preacher. Based on a true story, the film tells the story of a former drug dealer -- played by Gerard Butler -- who becomes a leading activist for human rights in Sudan. The song is available as a download today at Cornell's site with a donation to the Angels of East Africa charity and will be on iTunes tomorrow. The soundtrack drops September 20 with the movie opening the 23rd. Says Forster, "“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." Watch the trailer after the jump...

Chris Cornell - "The Keeper" (from the Machine Gun Preacher soundtrack)

Due out September 23rd, the film Machine Gun Preacher is based on the true story of Sam Childers, a former drug-dealing criminal who finds faith leading him on a path to East Africa. Shocked by the mayhem in Sudan, Childers becomes a crusader for hundreds of refugee children. Inspired to create a safe haven for the multitudes fleeing enslavement by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army, he restores peace to their lives and eventually his own.

Directed and produced by DGA and Golden Globe®-nominee Marc Forster (Finding Neverland, Monster’s Ball) and written by Jason Keller, the film stars Gerard Butler (300) in a tour de force performance, alongside a powerful ensemble cast including Michelle Monaghan (Due Date), Kathy Baker (Cold Mountain), Oscar®-nominee Michael Shannon (Revolutionary Road), Madeline Carroll (The Spy Next Door) and breakout actor Souleymane Sy Savane (Goodbye Solo).