As a personal mega-fan of Miley Cyrus, I was elated to find a notification announcing the imminent release of “Flowers,” the first single from Cyrus’ upcoming eighth album, Endless Summer Vacation. The song’s upbeat melody differs from her previous album, Plastic Hearts (2020), which took on a punk-rock vibe. However, the style is not unfamiliar to fans of her middle albums. The song has earned the record for the most streamed song on Spotify for seven consecutive days, reaching 96 million streams the week after its release​​. The song has rocketed to international attention due to speculation over Cyrus’ meaning behind the lyrics and music video.

Both the lyrics and the music video seem to point to Cyrus’ ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth. The song champions Cyrus’ self-love and self-reliance after an ended relationship. The song was released on January 12th in the U.S., but on Hemsworth’s birthday, January 13th, in Australia, Hemsworth’s home country. The first lines of the song are: 

We were good, we were gold

Kinda dream that can't be sold

We were right 'til we weren't

Built a home and watched it burn.

These lines seem to refer to Cyrus and Hemsworth’s Malibu home that burned down in a wildfire in 2018. In an interview with Rolling Stones in 2020, Cyrus reported that the fire “did something she couldn’t do herself.” 

The chorus seems to be in response to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” a breakup song Hemsworth supposedly dedicated to Cyrus at some point in their relationship, although this is unconfirmed.

Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers”

I can buy myself flowers

Write my name in the sand

Talk to myself for hours

Say things you don’t understand

I can take myself dancing

And I can hold my own hand

Mars’ “When I Was Your Man”

That I should’ve bought you flowers

And held your hand

Shoulda gave you all my hours

When I had the chance

Take you to every party

‘Cause all you wanted to do was dance

Outside of the lyrics, many fans and speculators have drawn connections between Cyrus and Hemsworth’s relationship and the music video. Cyrus starts the video in a gold, floor-length gown and pulls her hair into an updo. The style resembles a dress Jennifer Lawrence, a Hunger Games co-star of Hemsworth, wore on the red carpet to The Hunger Games premiere in 2012. Many fans have speculated that Hemsworth might have cheated on Cyrus with Lawrence, especially after Lawrence admitted to kissing Hemsworth off-set of the film. 

On the same theme of cheating, some viewers claim that the film was shot in the same house Hemsworth cheated in with, as rumors claim, up to fourteen different women. 

These rumors and speculative easter eggs are unconfirmed, but Cyrus’ fanbase on both TikTok and Twitter have spent the past few weeks drawing connections and making theories. Regardless of the truth behind these claims, they have spread through the internet and added to the buzz around Cyrus’ next album. If the rest of the record is like the first single, this writer cannot wait to listen to Endless Summer Vacation in its entirety.

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