Striking a chord for those living with dementia

ARIA-nominated, nine-time Golden Guitar winner Adam Harvey has partnered with not-for-profit group Dementia Australia to raise awareness of the neurocognitive disorder that impacts more than 430,000 Australians each year.

The collaboration came from an overwhelming public response to Adam’s latest single Remember Me—a song about his late mother’s lived experience with dementia. Adam says it’s an honour to promote a cause that is so close to his heart.

“One day, Mum said to me, ‘I love talking to you. You’re like the son I never had’,” Adam says.

“I thought she was joking and I said, ‘That’s funny, Mum.’ Then I looked across and realised she was bloody serious. 

“I went home and shed a few tears and wrote this song. It just sort of fell out on the paper, honestly.”

Adam says he’s been blown away by the response to Remember Me since its release in November last year, saying he’s never had a reaction like it.

“Music helps us get through the really hard times, and it helps us celebrate the great times,” he says.

“It can really bring people together.”

For Adam, the sheer number of people who have approached him in support of his song has highlighted how many people are affected by dementia.

“A guy stopped me in the supermarket and said, ‘You sing that song Remember Me, don’t you?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, that’s right,” Adam says.

“And he just burst into tears and reached out and held his arm around my shoulders. “He said, ‘You’ve got no idea how much that song means to me after all I've been through. It's just, I can relateto every single word.’

“It’s amazing that you can write a song about something so personal in your own life, and yet it can relate to so many other people out there.”

Adam hopes that in addition to shedding light on dementia, his song can provide some comfort for those directly and indirectly affected by the disease.

“I think being able to tell Mum's story and sing that song has really helped me,” he says.

“It's been like therapy and helped with the grieving process a bit for me too.

“It's probably been the hardest song that I've written. I had to practice at home quite a lot before I sang it live, because I'd get halfway through it and end up a dribbling mess.”

While Adam says he’s had his “dream” career for 25 years, he’s honoured to perform his songs at Dementia Australia’s carers’ luncheon events and experience a different side of the music scene.

“I just sang at the Gympie Muster with 50,000 people there, and that's a hell of an adrenaline rush,” he says.

“But to be honest, I often get more out of going to a place like Dubbo or Broken Hill where we do these shows for nothing, because it's so rewarding. 

“We're giving people a chance to let their hair out and have a sing, a dance, a laugh, and escape from it all for a few hours.

“A lot of those people say to me, ‘I've had the best day today. I haven't had an outing like this for over a year,’ and that’s because they’re full-time carers.

“I always think, if I can do that for people then I'm doing my job.”

Adam hopes that despite the often painful reality of caring for those affected by dementia, he can draw on his experience to bring about positive change.

“The one thing I've learned about dementia is there's worse things than dying,” he says.

“I just hope and pray that we come up with a cure for it one day.” 

For Dementia information and support visit dementia.org.au