“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus, Monday, March 6, 2023

 

January wasn't too soon to start thinking about an Endless Summer Vacation, at least for Miley Cyrus. The singer's eighth studio album is coming out this coming Friday, and the first single, "Flowers" was dropped in January. The single builds on the theme of her last LP, Plastic Hearts, and its lead single "Midnight Sky," in which Cyrus declares "I don't belong to anyone / I don't need to be loved by you." In "Flowers," Cyrus realizes that she can buy her own damn flowers rather than accept a half-hearted gift from a lackadaisical lover. The singer's target, of course, is ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. 

WE WERE GOOD, WE WERE GOLD. Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth met on the set of the 2010 Nicholas Sparks film adaptation of The Last Song in 2009. The two dated on and off until getting engaged in 2012. They broke off their engagement in 2013 on good terms, dating other people until 2016 when they announced that they again were engaged. The couple married in 2018 but announced their separation the next year and the divorce was finalized in 2020, the couple citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their divorce. In "Flowers," Cyrus claims, "I didn't wanna leave you, baby / I didn't wanna fight." But in the end, she realizes, "I can love me better than you can." Cyrus realizes that she doesn't need the spark of a romantic gift when she can take care of herself. It's better to "hold [your] own hand" if your partner isn't there for you completely.

I CAN BUY MYSELF FLOWERS. In January when Miley Cyrus first released "Flowers," avid pop music listeners caught a reference to Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man." Liam Hemsworth had reportedly dedicated the song to Cyrus when the two were married. Cyrus, though, takes Mars' weepy ballad about a lover's regret and turns it into a revenge anthem, even releasing it on Hemsworth's birthday, January 13th. The song references several incidents in their relationship, including their lost Malibu home, which burned in 2018. The Mars' track focuses on the "coulda, woulda, shoulda" of lost love, almost as if the listener were a victim of his ineptitude. Cyrus, however, refuses to be a victim. Self-love is better than whatever she was experiencing, and in the case of "Flowers," the biggest expression of self-love is revenge. But it's not a "good 4 u" kind of revenge. It's perhaps more damaging to the ego of certain men in a hetero-normative relationship. The subtle jabs at using birthdays as release dates and wordplay about meaningful events reinforce this, but the true revenge is, "Sorry Bruno, I don't need you. I can do it myself! In fact, I’m growing my own flowers in the alcove garden of the expensive home I bought with my success!”

 

Read the lyrics on Genius.