Don't let the grandeur fool you - it's still easy to relate to.
Miley Cyrus (Photo: NMC)
Although we are only in March, we can already announce.
"Flowers", by the American singer Miley Cyrus, is the song of the year for 2023. The numbers back it up.
From the moment the song came out in mid-January, every week it is the most balanced song in the world and number one in every possible country.
Also, it doesn't look like anything is going to overtake or stop him anytime soon.
Other than that, this is a really good song.
One with a captivating melody, precise rock production and most importantly, a song with a defining message for the period.
In the Woke era, "Flowers" is a new kind of feminist anthem.
Its first stanza does tell about a dramatic separation of Cyrus from her partner, but the sequel gets an interesting twist.
Cyrus examines the need, in the current era, of women in men.
"I can bring myself flowers," Cyrus sings, "write my name in the sand, talk to myself for hours, say things you won't understand."
If a woman can take care of everything for herself, why do you need boys?
In the shadow of the amazing success of this song, Cyrus' new album, "Endless Summer Vacation", was released on Friday.
The single and the album place Cyrus as one of the most important and respected singers in the world today.
Rock heroine and female empowerment model.
Given Cyrus' history, where she has reached is almost unfathomable.
Cyrus began her career at the age of 14 as the main character in the series "Hannah Montana", a good American girl who also knows how to sing.
During the series, Cyrus released albums under the name Hannah Montana, and as her success grew, she switched to releasing music under her real name.
Montana/Cyrus was a huge success and America fell in love with her and turned her into a kind of national darling.
Then, a decade ago, at the age of 20, Cyrus broke down.
She was tired of being the girl everyone loves, and in her place, with the album "Bangerz", we got a new Miley.
The provocative and sexual Miley, who fills the gossip sections.
The big event in Miley's transformation was when she released the music video for the hit "Wrecking Ball" from the same album.
Cyrus cut her hair short, and when she was naked she was seen swinging passionately on a wrecking ball.
An iconic moment.
The Americans had a hard time digesting how the girl next door became someone so promiscuous, and Miley explained that the music video was inspired by Irish singer Shaniad O'Connor.
In response to this claim, O'Connor released a public letter that made headlines, in which she wrote to Cyrus that the music industry doesn't care about her and is turning her into a whore.
"Stop being castrated by them," O'Connor added, "and use your talent without the need to please anyone."
Cyrus did not take the letter well.
In response to O'Connor, Cyrus bombarded her Twitter with all kinds of old articles about the Irish woman's mental state, in order to humiliate her.
O'Connor may not really be the most organized in her head, and at the time of writing the letter she must have been seen as a kind of boomer aunt, but in the long run her letter to Cyrus was a defining document.
One that gives a super strong perspective on how things in the entertainment industry are run.
Cyrus herself, who seemed to treat the letter with disdain, must have chimed in as well.
Cyrus was 20 years old and decided to stop.
She went on a four-year hiatus from organized activity, after which she seems to have returned as a completely different person.
Completely different from the good girl of the Hannah Montana era or alternatively the bad girl of the "Bangerz" era.
The change was so great that conspiracy theories at the time claimed that Cyrus was murdered and replaced by someone else (!).
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Murdered or not, in the last six years we have undoubtedly been receiving a different Miley.
Cyrus who is an older woman spring, such a normal American.
One that doesn't seem unusual or doesn't have controversial stories surrounding it.
Already thirty years old, Cyrus released her 13th album in number (if you include her six albums under the name Hannah Montana).
"Endless Summer Vacation" is a kind of third chapter in her adult trilogy.
The first of the trio was the 2017 album "Younger Now," which was a collection of all sorts of pieces in new musical styles for Miley's fans, meaning - not pop songs.
Cyrus tried to be there personally and tell about what is happening in her life.
The problem was that her life, as a young, famous and rich woman, did not lead to too interesting insights.
Three years later, at the height of the Corona period and the lockdowns, Cyrus released what is considered her best album - "Plastic Heart".
Thanks to electro-punk production, a voice that became raspy a la Bonnie Tyler and collaborations with Billy Idol, Joan Jett and Stevie Nicks - the album suddenly positioned Cyrus as a brave rocker. of the eighties, became a huge hit, and among other things connected Cyrus, as well as her young fans, to an older audience. It took time, but for the first time in her career, Cyrus received artistic appreciation and the treatment of a serious singer.
"Plastic Heart" may not have been a huge commercial success, but it built Cyrus' image so well that it seems she's reaping the rewards now, with the new album.
It started of course with "Flowers", which may have been written as a painful breakup song but took on a different meaning.
We no longer live in times where a woman needs a man to survive or to be happy.
In fact, as the song explains, the opposite is probably true.
It seems like a simplistic message to us, but in a world where fairy tales about the prince on the white horse are still told to girls before bed - it is innovative.
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The single opens the album, which includes 12 more songs, the last of which is a demo version of the opening song.
The songs sound good, but they don't have the brilliance of the first hit.
Most of the songs discuss breakups or relationships, but not in the same harsh way.
The second song, "Jaded", where she sings the chorus "It's a fucking shame that it ended like that", and the ninth song, the duet with Sia "Muddy Feat", where she repeatedly sings "Get the fuck out of my house with that shit " - are apparently dealing with Cyrus' divorce of four years.
Cyrus was married to Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, who was rumored to have cheated on her with no less than 14 different women.
These songs are obviously full of anger, but there are no insights beyond anger.
What's more, after these two come songs that talk about Cyrus' longing for relationships.
Thus, in "Rose Colored Lenses," which follows "Jaded," Cyrus laments that things won't really change.
Additionally, in "Wildcard" which follows "Muddy Feat", Cyrus opens with the words "Let's play mommy and daddy. I can be your wife".
After the two previous albums, which zigzagged between many musical styles, in the new album Cyrus seems to have broken down.
In "eternal summer vacation" the feeling is that her place is in a combination of rock, with touches of country and soft alternative.
A bit like Bruce Springsteen.
This is the guiding line in most of the songs, but fortunately, the album is not so monotonous and it also has some exceptions, which come in a sequence in the middle.
"Handstand" is a nineties-tinged trip-hoppy track that glorifies Cyrus's physiological abilities.
"I see you're ignoring a call from your mom," Cyrus sings, "when you don't understand how I'm fucking handstands."
The delusional song is replaced by "River", which sounds like a tribute to Madonna and also a bit to Lady Gaga.
Immersive electronic power pop, with guitars that sound like they belong to Johnny Marr of The Smiths.
Totally feels like the next hit from the album.
It is followed by "Violet Chemistry", which in its connection with "Muddy Feat" are the parts that sound the most like modern pop, the kind that Cyrus used to create.
Although there is no other piece on the album that compares to "Flowers", and although Cyrus' stories about the complications of her relationships or the longing for relationships are a bit boring, the album manages to hold up well.
Apparently it was precisely this normativity that created a story that you can identify with.
Although she is rich and famous, Cyrus is no Taylor Swift.
Taylor may be more successful and admired, but Swift, for her perfection, has become inaccessible.
Cyrus, on the other hand, presents everyday life, with real-life relationships.
It may be a bit routine, but precisely because of that it is very easy to connect with her.
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