Why The Song “Opus One”
by Madison Park

I knew for a long time that I would write a song about Factory Farming. Seemingly, as people get to know me, they learn quickly how passionate I am about this very cause so they don't seem terribly surprised that I put a song on our CD, Boutique, about it. But what people often ask is why title a song about Factory Farming, "Opus One"? And the truth is, the story sounds a little sappy but you can't really help the way a story goes down; that is if you're telling it like it was. So at the risk of sappiness, oh who cares, "Opus One" came about like this... One Saturday James and I were driving along the interstate and we came upon a truck transporting pigs. They were teen-age pigs. Pink and mid-size, really cute. And one pig in particular was on the bottom of a pile of several others with his head lying down on the bottom of the truck and he was just looking at me as we were driving right behind them. He looked sad. I’m sure he was. And I wanted to save him. I told James to help me pull over the truck. That I was going to offer the driver money for this pig. Even though he felt as badly for the pigs as I did, James insisted that regardless of what I offered him, he wasn't going to give me this pig. He insisted that the driver wouldn't even pull over in the first place. After much convincing, I relented. Only to never get the image of this little pig's face out of my head. I named him Opus. He was the one. I wanted to save this very pig so badly from his impending doom. And the reality is, he probably came from just as miserable of an existence on a factory farm as he was about to face during slaughter. And I can't live with that. The fact that there are no laws in place to protect farm animals, that they can be treated or mistreated however a company chooses; that they can be transported for days without food or water and forced to stand for over 24 hours at a time is just a part of this world that I can't accept. I am determined to help change this situation. I'm determined to help save farm animals from factory farming. And Ruthie and I will work tirelessly with everyone and anyone who is out to stop Factory Farming. We will help drive business away from these companies so they are forced to change how they treat animals. They don't deserve anyone's business. And they never deserved Opus One. He wasn't theirs for the taking.

So there you have it, "Opus One"

("Opus One" appears on Madison Park's debut album, Boutique. Madison Park is set to release album #3 December 9th, 2008 titled Another Yesterday. The CD insert contains a lengthy message against factory farming. Be sure to check it out. All Madison Park music is available in record stores such as Best Buy, Virgin Mega-stores, various Indies, on-line retailers such as Amazon, CD Universe, Barnes and Noble, and all digital download sites such as iTunes, eMusic, Beatport and many more.)