Kate Miller-Heidke calls out her childhood abuser with powerful song with activist Jaguar Jonze

Kate Miller-Heidke joins with Jaguar Jonze to sing her truth on new single You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore and shares her heartbreaking story of abuse and survival.

Kate Miller-Heidke declared her song You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore was about “dancing on the grave of an arsehole” when she released it on her Child In Reverse album two years ago.

As she relaunches the powerful song this week, with sexual assault advocate and pop artist Jaguar Jonze, Miller-Heidke shared a brave social media post, naming the man who repeatedly abused her between the ages of four and six, her great-grandfather Archibald Barnes.

Kate Miller-Heidke has spoken out about the story behind her powerful song. Picture: Supplied.

“I usually say this song is about dancing on the grave of an arsehole,” Miller-Heidke wrote.

“My latest album Child in Reverse is about childhood. One thing that happened to me when I was a very young child (from the ages of 4-6) was that I was sexually abused by my great grandfather Archibald Barnes.

“He was a paedophile and a serial offender. I wasn’t the first or the last. (Although obviously my family didn’t know it at the time, and didn’t find out until some years later.)

“This song is about how I felt when he died. Ultimately it’s a really empowering song to sing.”

Jaguar Jonze helped Miller-Heidke process her experience into music. Picture: supplied

Miller-Heidke penned the heartwrenching yet defiant pop anthem at a songwriter’s camp a few years ago, the same day after an intimate conversation that morning with Jaguar Jonze about her own experiences of childhood abuse.

It prompted her to write down the title You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore.

Miller-Heidke credited Jaguar Jonze and women’s movement leaders Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins for galvanising her will to call out her abuser.

It is understood Barnes died about 30 years ago.

Miller-Heidke has always struck a chord with her deeply personal songs. Picture: Jerad Williams

“I probably wouldn’t have been so open about this without the examples of Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, but the most important inspiration was Jaguar Jonze, with whom I had a very deep conversation the morning this song was written,” Miller-Heidke wrote.

“She described some very shocking things that happened to her as a child, and I felt very connected to her, and full of admiration for her resilience too – that’s when the song title You Can’t Hurt Me Anymore popped into my head.

“I think it’s one of the most powerful songs I’ve written, and it’s a privilege to sing it with Jaguar Jonze, who transformed the track with her potent raw energy.”

Jonze has been a tireless activist in the music industry’s reckoning with sexual harm. Picture: Nigel Hallett

The pair have a shared history as they are both members of the Eurovision – Australia Decides family. Miller-Heidke won the inaugural selection show in 2019 and went on to represent Australia in Israel with her orchestral pop hit Zero Gravity.

Jaguar Jonze has now competed at two Australia Decides, in 2020 and last month on the Gold Coast, finishing third.

Their new collaboration is launched with a stunning music video which premieres today and features the pair sharing verses detailing the pain and shame of abuse before joining on the triumphant chorus affirming their survival – “You can’t hurt me anymore.”

Every note and lyric of the song is compelling.

The video’s scenes of Miller-Heidke and Jaguar Jonze running down the aisle of a church while singing the harrowing pre-chorus, which evokes the helplessness, despair and trauma of sexually abused children, are breathtakingly brave.

“I called out to the stars, Wished for you to cry, I called out to the moon, Wished for you to die, I called out to the spheres, They did not hear me cry. I guess this is goodbye, I hold my head up high,” they sing.

The new version of the song is released today and will feature on the upcoming deluxe version of Child In Reverse.

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Originally published as Kate Miller-Heidke calls out her childhood abuser with powerful song with activist Jaguar Jonze