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Please Don't Turn Away - credits page

 

On 17th November 2021 I released the music video for "Please Don't Turn Away", a song I wrote inspired by the work of Jo-Anne McArthur, animal photojournalist and founder of We Animals Media.  I chose this particular date to celebrate the anniversary of the publication of HIDDEN: Animals in the Anthropocene.  On the same day The Sydney Sentinel published my article about this ground-breaking book.

The Please Don't Turn Away music video features images from the We Animals Media stock photo library, which offers over 10,000 searchable images and video.  In their words "We Animals Media brings visibility to hidden animals through compelling photo and videojournalism. As the world’s leading animal photojournalism agency, it is our mission to document the stories of animals in the human environment — those used for food, fashion, entertainment, and experimentation — and to connect those stories to the individuals and organizations who can amplify their reach."

please don't turn away

Due to the confronting nature of some of the images, YouTube is restricting viewing of the music video to people who are logged in using an account that identifies them as being over 18.  However the audio is also available to stream for free on my Triple J Unearthed page.  I also decided to include more 'positive' images towards the later parts of the song, to instil more of a positive and hopeful note by the end, encouraging viewers to help change things for the better and celebrating those who already are doing just that.

Below are all the credits for the song and music video.

You can donate to We Animals Media here.

 

Credits

Song

Composition (lyrics and melody): Elizabeth Usher

Vocals: MC Pony feat. Leafy Greens

Producers: Sven Tydeman, Tim G Carr, Elizabeth Usher

Mastering: Kathy Naunton, dB Mastering

Cover art graphic design: Kristin LaJeunesse

Cover art photograph: Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Music Video

Editor: Kristin LaJeunesse

Thank you also to Kristin for the initial photo selection.

Images (as matched to lyrics in video):

 

Intro

Don’t

Pigs being transported to slaughter. Canada, 2012.Broiler chickens in transport to slaughter. Nepal, 2017.

Jo-Anne McArthur / The Ghosts In Our Machine / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

turn away

A dairy farm.Sheep arriving at the sale yards. Australia, 2013.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Things

Ducks going to slaughter. Taiwan, 2019.Intensive goat farming. Taiwan, 2019.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

have got to change

Pig slaughterhouse. Canada, 2011.Cows hanging by hind legs at a slaughterhouse. Turkey, 2018.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Don’t

Rabbit slaughterhouse. Spain, 2013.Silver Fox In A Cage At A Fur Farm In Quebec

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / #MakeFurHistory / We Animals Media

 

turn away

A purpose bred beagle at a veterinary school. Spain, 2010.Kiska, a lone orca, being watched by tourists and visitors at Marineland

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

 

Things

Kittens for sale at a street market. Vietnam, 2008.Whole chickens are hooked and hung through their nostrils on display for sale at a Taipei wet market.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

have got to change
Cattle in transport. Thailand, 2019.A fish tied for carrying at a market. Laos, 2008.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals for The Guardian / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Verse 1

Are we even seen...

Pigs crowd together behind bars inside a Finnish factory farm.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Oikeutta Elaimille / We Animals Media

 

and without disbelief

Young Broiler Chicks At A Factory Farm In Mexico

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

Is the horror perceived, will our trauma be grievedFarmers pull newborn calf from mother dairy cowA recently separated calf waits in a wheelbarrow as a farmer prepares her solitary crate.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

 

Our torturous story of pain and disease

Cows with full udders are corralled into the milking barn to be hooked up to machines.A dying cow. Taiwan.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

 

We're lame, mutilated, packed like sardines

An open, festering wound in place of a possibly cannibalized earPiglets crowd one another in filth in an Italian factory farm
Jo-Anne McArthur / Essere Animali / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Essere Animali / We Animals Media

 

(A phrase that reduces these sentient beings

Barramundi in tanks at a fish farm in South Australia.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

To a pithy cliché devoid of feelings)

Fish market. Israel, 2018.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

But worst of all in this calamitous scene

A dying fish in a net at Scadding Court fishing dayClose-up of fish on display at a market in Jerusalem

 

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

A commercial fishing boat. Mauritius, 2009.Fish heads on display for sale at a fish market in Taiwan.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Sea Shepherd / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Most of our treatment is legal, routine

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

A nightmare ordeal with no chance of reprieve

Several Cows In Enclosures At A Feedlot In IsraelClose Up Of A Cow At A Feedlot In Israel
Quarantine yards. Israel, 2018.Decomposing Cow Skull Next To A Quarantine Site In Israel

Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media

 

It's time that the message at last be received

Young broiler chickens at a small industrial farm in NepalYoung broiler chickens at a small industrial farm in Nepal

Young broiler chickens at a small industrial farm in NepalChickens being slaughtered.

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

A life such as ours should never have been.

Pigs at a family-run organic farm.Sheep inside a transport truck parked at the Turkish Border

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals for The Guardian/ We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Eyes on Animals / We Animals Media

 

A life such as ours should never have been.

Cows inside a transport truck, parked at the Turkish BorderRabbits bleeding out and dying before being skinned and dismembered at the slaughterhouse.

Jo-Anne McArthur / Eyes on Animals / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Animal Equality / We Animals Media

 

CHORUS

Please don't turn away

Hamadryas Baboon At A Zoo In LithuaniaBrown Bear Presses Nose Up Against Chain Link Fence At A Zoo In Lithuania
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Asian Elephant At A Zoo In SloveniaGiraffe At A Zoo In Latvia
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

 

Or things will never change

Leopard Looking Out From Chain Link Fence At A Zoo In FranceVisitor With A White Dog On A Leash, Looking At A Lynx, At A Zoo In France

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Don't deny our fate

Patagonian Mara At A Zoo In FranceWhite Tigers Look Out Over Edge Of Wall At A Zoo In France
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media


Oh Please don't turn away

 

Chimpanzee At A Zoo In Germany

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

Please don't turn away

Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media

Please don't turn away

African Elephant At A Zoo In Denmark

Jo-Anne McArthur / Born Free Foundation / We Animals Media

 

Verse 2

The laws have failed us, hidden and veiled us

Sows and their litters nursing between the bars of rows of gestation crates.A sow lies wedged between the bars of a gestation crate

Jo-Anne McArthur / Essere Animali / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Essere Animali / We Animals Media

 

Hateful betrayal is how they've repaid us

Young pig at an industrial farm.A pig at an industrial farm.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals for The Guardian / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals for The Guardian / We Animals Media

 

A brave few remain unafraid

Pam Ahern With Max, A Rescued Pig At Edgar's Mission
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

To lay bare the tale of our pitiful status

Piia Anttonen With Rescued Sheep

Lina Lind Christensen Holding A Rescued Hen At Frie Vinger Sanctuary In Denmark

Jo-Anne McArthur / The Unbound Project / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

Do you dare to witness the way they've displayed us?

Hens packed into cages at a factory farm. Australia, 2013. Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Avow and attest how our captors have jailed us

Rows of chickens hung by feet at a slaughterhouse. Taiwan, 2019.Hens in battery cages on a factory farm
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

To come face to face, brave our gaze

Friends at Tuulispaa. Finland, 2015.Rescued Rooster At Farm Sanctuary In California
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Admit and acknowledge what plagues our days

Several cows in a crowded feedlot. Israel, 2018.A sheep dog and sheep. Australia, 2017.
Jo-Anne McArthur / Israel Against Live Shipments / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Will you shine a light or bring back the shade


Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Will you shine a light or bring back the shade

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Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

CHORUS

Please don't turn away

Dog Pokes His Nose Out Of Enclosure At Kathmandu Animal Treatment Centre In NepalMichael Bernard with a dog from the local community, brought in during a spay-neuter clinic

Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / Humane Society International / We Animals Media

Or things will never change

Spaniel puppy on display in a pet store window in Paris.Spaniel puppy on display in a pet store window in Paris.
Jo-Anne McArthur / One Voice / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / One Voice / We Animals Media

 

Don't deny our fate

Locked up and for sale at Bird Alley.For sale at Bird Alley.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Oh Please don't turn away

A US Coast Guard walks along the beach with a dead bird, scooped up at the public beach. At all hours, clean-up workers, hired by BP, as well as Coast Guards, pick up debris and wildlife from the beaches.A wallaby with a severe skin condition is treated at Southern Cross Wildlife Care.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Please don't turn away

The bullfight.The slaughterhouse at the bullfighting arena.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Please don't turn away

Intensive goat farming. Taiwan, 2019.Intensive goat farming. Taiwan, 2019.
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media
Jo-Anne McArthur / We Animals Media

 

Bridge part 1

We are the invisibles

Black mink kits in a nesting box at a fur farm
Jo-Anne McArthur / #MakeFurHistory / We Animals Media

 

Our treatment's unforgivable