The music and lyrics for "Swing Life Away" were written by Rise Against's lead vocalist Tim McIlrath and his roommate Neil Hennessy.

The music and lyrics for "Swing Life Away" were written by Rise Against's lead vocalist Tim McIlrath and his roommate Neil Hennessy.

Although the band members enjoyed the song, they questioned how an acoustic ballad could fit in an album characterized by its hardcore sound.

[3] The Punk Goes Acoustic version of "Swing Life Away" attracted little attention from fans, and McIlrath believed that the song had "died out".

McIlrath decided to elaborate on the song, and used one of Sheryl Crow's guitars he found in the studio to add an instrumental bridge.

[3] "Swing Life Away" is composed entirely of acoustic strumming, and its relatively positive sound plays in stark contrast to Rise Against's hardcore oeuvre.

[5][6] According to the song's sheet music, the composition is written in the time signature of 6/8 swing, with a moderate tempo of 52 beats per minute.

[10] "Swing Life Away" began playing on radio stations in late April 2005, as the second single from Siren Song of the Counter Culture.

[15] In his review of Punk Goes Acoustic, Aubin Paul of Punknews.org wrote that "Swing Life Away" has a "simple but amazingly catchy guitar line", and called it his favorite track from the album.

[9] Sputnikmusic's Davey Boy characterized the lyrics as simple but effective,[10] while Justin Donnelly of Blistering felt that "Swing Life Away" was one of three songs that ended the album in "huge style".

[2] In 2013, American rapper Machine Gun Kelly released the mixtape Black Flag, which included a cover of "Swing Life Away".

[22] Rise Against approved of the cover, after Kelly wrote a letter to the band explaining that he "wouldn’t do anything to make them or their song look corny".