"You Are Here" – A Song From The Perspective of Someone with Early-Onset Alzheimer's Disease

You Are Here

God knows what’s happening here I’m all alone in my fear “Early onset” is what I’ve been told I’m too young to be old

All the memories I’ve known Are fading into the unknown The life I lived with the people I love Are ghosts that haunt me now And I need to know somehow…

You are here You are near Hold my hand One thing remains through the year You are here.

I look in the mirror and what do I see? The eyes of a stranger stare back at me The look is familiar but something is wrong Like an old forgotten song Can you help me sing along?

You are here You are near Hold my hand One thing remains through the year You are here.

All that I know is this moment right now You may be a stranger but love me somehow In time you will get to know Love’s hardest lesson is in letting go

One day you’ll pack up my things I’ll leave you behind spreading my wings Forgetting confusion, losing the pain But I’ll remember your name And I’ll love you just the same

You are here You are near Hold my hand One thing remains through the year You are here.

Bakhus shared with me that this song had a few sources of inspiration, including the novel Still Alice and the story of Jan Petersen, a former CBS foreign correspondent. He also said that the second verse came from his own experience of his mother not recognizing herself in the mirror. Personally, my favorite line came in the second verse: “The look is familiar but something is wrong/Like an old forgotten song/Can you help me sing along?” I often get to help people sing along to songs they thought they had forgotten, and I know that music can bring back memories in other ways, too. I feel privileged to be together with people at those times. I hope you find this song as achingly beautiful as I did.]]>

2 Comments

  1. Trevor Mumby on February 13, 2014 at 6:18 am

    I loved the words and sounds. Tears welled up!

    Can it be sent to others?

    • soundscapemusictherapy on February 14, 2014 at 9:52 pm

      Yes, I believe Bakhus wants this YouTube video to be shared far and wide. Thanks for your feedback!

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