Miley Cyrus has released an emotional new single titled 'Used to Be Young.' Here's every detail and Easter egg from the song you may have missed.
Miley Cyrus released the music video for her new single, "Used To Be Young," on Friday, August 25.
The release date marks the 10-year anniversary of her VMA performance and "Wrecking Ball" video.
Some other Easter eggs are hidden in the stripped-back video, including her choice of outfit.
Miley Cyrus released the music video for her latest single, "Used to Be Young" on Friday — and the emotional pop ballad has already taken the internet by storm.
In an Instagram post, Cyrus said that she wrote the song, her first single since March's "Endless Summer Vacation," during a period in her life when she felt "misunderstood."
"I have spent the last 18 months painting a sonic picture of my perspective to share with you. The time has arrived to release a song that I could perfect forever. Although my work is done, this song will continue to write itself everyday. The fact it remains unfinished is a part of its beauty," she continued. "That is my life at this moment ….. unfinished yet complete."
As for why it has been released now rather than with her most recent album, Cyrus said that August 25 is a very special date for her.
"I decided to release 'Used to Be Young," on August 25th because this particular date, historically, has been important to me personally and in my career," Cyrus said in a short video uploaded to her YouTube channel last week.
Here are all the Easter eggs Cyrus has hidden in the song, and why the date is so significant.
"Used To Be Younger" was released on the 10th anniversary of a memorable VMA performance.
At the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards, Cyrus performed her song "We Can't Stop," before ditching her teddy-bear onesie to reveal a beige, latex bikini as Robin Thicke took the stage to perform "Blurred Lines" as the then-20-year-old singer danced suggestively with a foam finger.
It was a defining moment in pop-culture history and one that Cyrus herself has said haunted her for years afterward.
She also released the music video for "Wrecking Ball" 10 years ago on August 25, and the two videos have some visual parallels.
Speaking in her ABC special "Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions)," which aired on Thursday ahead of the video's release, Cyrus emphasized just how important the music video is to her, stating that it "changed my life and my career and the way people perceived me forever."
Just like in the "Wrecking Ball" video, in "Used to Be Young," Cyrus directly addresses the camera as she sings — a move she previously said was inspired by Irish musician Sinéad O'Connor.
On the same day in 2010, Cyrus' first break up with Liam Hemsworth made headlines.
As Insider previously reported, Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of "The Last Song" in 2010 and dated on and off for several years.
On August 25, 2010, it was reported by multiple outlets that they had broken up for the first time, with "The Hunger Games" actor's representative confirming the news to People.
After a few more reconciliations and splits, the couple made it down the aisle in 2018 but filed for divorce the following year in 2019. Their legal separation was finalized in January 2020.
There's another significance to the date. It's also Billy Ray Cyrus' birthday.
There has been some speculation that there could be a divide in the Cyrus family, following Tish Cyrus' wedding on Saturday, which was not attended by Noah Cyrus and Braison Cyrus.
The singer served as maid of honor, and attended alongside her older siblings Trace Cyrus and Brandi Cyrus, leading many to believe that she has taken her mom's side in the alleged feud.
Some also took Miley's decision to release "Used to Be Young" — a song in which she reflects on her past with joy and pain — on Billy Ray's birthday as further evidence of a rift, given that she released her breakup ballad, "Flowers," on ex-husband Liam Hemsworth's birthday back in January.
However, it could equally be taken another way as she had nothing but good words to say about her father as she reflected on their relationship in her ABC special.
She discussed her fond memories of touring with Billy Ray when she was a kid and said she "had a lot of great memories" of singing with him over the years.
She also became emotional as she described how her relationship with fame and success is "wildly different" from his.
"For him, feeling loved by a big audience impacted him more than it ever could me. When he feels special or important, it's like healing a childhood wound and I've always been made to feel like a star," she said.
Cyrus has revealed her mom was not far from her mind while shooting the music video either.
While it appears in the video that she's looking directly into the camera itself, Miley revealed in her ABC special that she was actually looking at her mom during the duration of the shoot.
She said that using a new technology that allowed her to 'livestream with my mom from inside of the camera," she and Tish were able to see each other.
She said: "As she was dancing, it just made me cry, it made me laugh. It just brought up so many real emotions. I think it's really into true emotion, which I don't feel they get to see very much these days."
In the video, Cyrus wears a t-shirt featuring the Disney character Mickey Mouse.
Fans of the singer don't need to be reminded that she became a household name thanks to her starring role in the Disney Channel sitcom, "Hannah Montana," but her choice to don a vintage t-shirt bearing the face of the brand's mascot is something Cyrus has said ties into the song's meaning.
On her ABC special, she said wearing the t-shirt underneath her one-of-a-kind custom-made Maison Margiela bodysuit by designer John Galliano gets "the point across of what the song was really about" as it shows the layers of her life and career.
In the lyrics, Cyrus references how her appearance has changed over the years, singing in the first verse: "I don't dress the same / Me and who you say I was yesterday / Have gone our separate ways."
Check out the music video for "Used to Be Young" below:
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