After her hit song “Flowers” took the world by storm earlier this year, Miley Cyrus dropped another single. While the former was a fun bouncy bop about self love following a relationship, her latest song, “Used To Be Young” is a slower, more emotional ballad. It reflects on her past and reputation as a “party girl” in the early 2010s. The song is beautiful, and Cyrus gave fans a peek into what she was thinking when she was recording the single, and insight into the lyrics about how she “Used To Be Wild.”
After releasing her single today, the “We Can’t Stop” singer posted a snippet from her moving music video on Instagram. She also captioned the post with a heartfelt message about her “wild” days and the changes she’s gone through emotionally as she’s grown up in the spotlight. The song speaks for itself, but the message gave an even deeper context into how special the song is to Cyrus. She said:
This song is about honoring who we’ve been, loving who we are & celebrating who we will become. I feel proud when reflecting on my past and joyful when thinking about the future. I am grateful to my loyal fans who make my dreams a reality daily. I am sincerely thankful for the stability of your steadfast support. This song is for you.
Truly, Miley
Cyrus earned the “wild” reputation in the later days of her Disney Channel run in Hannah Montana. Rumors of partying swirled around the Last Song actress, and her music became a lot more grown up, raising the eyebrows of some, especially after she infamously swung on a wrecking ball naked in one of her music videos. It all came to a head when she performed “We Can’t Stop” with Robin Thicke at the VMAs 2013 and twerked while wearing a foam finger. It was controversial at the time, and the performance met with the increasing adult content within her music and lyric contributed to the image.
Despite the controversy around her, Cyrus never shied away from being true to herself and the changes she went through throughout her 20s. She experimented with her musical style and her on stage persona, while coming to terms with her Disney Channel past. She even wears a Mickey Mouse shirt in the music video for “Used to Be Young,” a subtle nod to the company that played such a major role in her youth. She keeps the video simple, quietly crying, and sometimes smiling to herself while she sings the powerful ballad. It’s wonderfully fitting to the song, which is just as much of an emotional rollercoaster.
Throughout all of her changes and evolving musical persona, her fans have stuck by her. They allowed her to grow and mature personally and as a musical artist. Cyrus is seemingly incredibly grateful for this grace, as she praises her fandom’s stability in her post. Growing up in the public eye and having the public lazer focus on your personal life is an incredibly unique experience. It seems like the “Wrecking Ball” singer came out of it all on top, as she enters the next decade of her life and career.
You can listen to Miley Cyrus’s new single, “Used To Be Young” now on Spotify or Apple Music. The singer also occasionally lends her talents to the acting world, and you can check her latest voice acting performance in the Big Mouth spinoff series, Human Resources, which is currently streaming with a Netflix subscription.