Miley Cyrus’ new single ‘Flowers’ is seemingly packed with references to her past relationship

Miley Cyrus is back with new music, this time with a self-love breakup song celebrating her singleness. The singer released ‘Flowers’ on January 12, the first single from her upcoming eighth studio album, which is set to be released on March 10, 2023.

The amazing change Miley Cyrus made to ‘Flowers’ lyrics

This upbeat anthem is a pop song with disco and funk influences. Mary Siroky of Consequence, a New York-based online magazine describes it as having “raspy vocals” which “offer an edge to the disco-toned anthem” which interpolates Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 song ‘I Will Survive’. Podcast host Julie Ravey also identified the similarities between the two songs in a Tik Tok,

Fans quickly uncovered the songs’ numerous references to Hemsworth and Cyrus’s on-and-off-again relationship, which ended in divorce in February 2020.

The first talking point was the song’s release date of January 12 in the USA. However, in Australia, Hemsworth’s home country, it was already the 13th, which just so happened to be his birthday.

The lyrics also allude to the couple’s past relationship. The first verse “Built a home and watched it burn” references their Southern California home that burnt down on Nov. 11, 2018, during the Woolsey Fires. Soon after Cyrus tweeted this about the tragedy,

The Chorus seemingly references and inverts Bruno Mars’ 2012 song “When I Was Your Man” The song has lyrics that include: “I should have bought you flowers and held your hand / Should have gave you all my hours when I had the chance / Take you to every party ‘cause all you wanted to do was dance.”

Cyrus flips the lyrics and sings: “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.” The lyrics seemingly reference a rumor that Hemsworth once dedicated the Bruno Mars song to her at their wedding.

Internet sleuths and fans have speculated other unconfirmed theories about the song and accompanying music video. One is that the YSL Suit Cyrus wears in the music video is a reference to the suit Hemsworth wore to the ‘Avengers: Endgame’ red carpet premiere. In a tension-filled incident, where he supposedly asked her to “behave for once” after she pretended to lick him.

While many rumors and theories about the song and video can’t be entirely confirmed, the message of the song is abundantly clear. Cyrus is also no stranger to using her music to portray messages about her personal life.

Back in 2020, shortly after the announcement of their divorce. Cyrus debuted a standalone single titled ‘Slide Away’, a sombre and introspective song that seems to detail the decline of their relationship, and ultimately, their separation.