I swear every time Miley Cyrus reinvents herself, I'm right there with her. I've loved her since her Hannah Montana days and for my pre-teen self, she was my Queen of Pop and still is.
I vividly remember when Hannah Montana first aired on Disney Channel. I was floored that a young girl, just a few years older than me could be a regular teen and a pop sensation on the side (by the way, I’m describing Hannah, but the same can be said about Miley).
After school, I raced home and turned on the tv. Of course, the world seemed to be against me because the spring showers hit Sacramento and my family’s cable kept buffering during the premiere. Every time the screen turned blank, I ran up and tilted the antenna, trying to catch as many minutes of the episode as I could. After watching it I was left with a newfound love for singing, dancing, and fashion.
I mean, come on! This look is everything: the sparkly 90s skinny scarf and white leather jacket combo matching perfectly with the sea-blue top and earrings?! #goals
Although I didn’t lead a double life and rock out on stage, like Hannah, I rocked out in my room to escape whatever uncomfortable feelings took over me. I would shut the door, put my Hannah Montana disc into my pink radio, and literally pretend I was Hannah. Thinking back, it’s a bit cringy...But this moment to myself, holding a hairbrush like a mic and dancing gave me the chance to destress from whatever bothered me (usually a fight over the playground's monkey bars).
This quickly turned into a ritual and those close to me know what I mean when I excuse myself and say, “I need to rock out.” To this day, I still dance to bops privately (sometimes publicly if I’m feeling it) to clear my head. Although now I rock out to fight the dread weighing down on me...Like, whenever I fall into a deep, dark pit of the uncertainty about what the hell I’m doing with my life.
Fast-forwarding a decade later, I'm still rocking out, but in new places and to new music. Don’t worry! I moved on from Hannah Montana, but I didn’t move on from Miley Cyrus.
After my first year of college, I still believed I needed to have everything figured out. I beat myself up for not being resilient enough mentally, not knowing what major to choose, and for continuing to worry so damn much about the future.
I thought it would get easier, but it didn’t. The one thing that kept me going was rocking out to whatever songs brought me joy. When Miley released her 2017 single titled “Malibu,” I wasn’t surprised when Spotify curated my “On Repeat” playlist with “Malibu” as its first track.
The song lyrics weren't (and still aren't) revolutionary, but something about Miley and her soft voice were.
In the music video for "Malibu," she sashays along the ocean shoreline, looking thoughtfully into the distance, the wind blowing through her tousled hair highlighting its literal growth. Her roots were growing out after her iconic Bangerz era blonde pixie and the only remnant of her past self was locked in the blonde tips of her hair.
I respected her growth from a party animal doused in rainbows, sparkles, and weed to a relaxed mature individual that openly shares all of her jagged parts. In a 2017 NPR interview, Miley insisted she's always been the same and has been "honest for who that person was then." Her "zero-fucks" attitude and shamelessness at experimenting and evolving is what keeps me coming back to her.
“Malibu” is clearly about Liam Hemsworth (her now ex-husband — I’m still sad about their breakup) and she sings about how she never enjoyed the ocean, but Liam brought her to its wondrous reality and showed her its beauty. If this isn’t the most romantic thing, I don’t know what is.
I listened to this song every time I walked along the Santa Barbara shoreline and it reminded me of my own reasons as to why I was there. I didn’t have a Liam to show me nature’s beauty, but I had my individual experience of attending college away from home that showed me who I was. I never thought it would be possible to live by the ocean, see magnificent sunsets, but I brought myself there and it taught me life’s wonders more than anybody else could.
Miley’s reinvention again had such a pivotal effect on me both metaphorically and physically because her new look with beachy hair inspired me to do the same. Here are some images from circa 2017:
When her full album was released, lyrics from the track “Younger Now” summed up how I felt: "Even though it's not who I am, I'm not afraid of who I used to be." Miley is the essence of evolving and showed me it’s okay to change because growth isn’t linear. It’s messy, confusing, uncomfortable, and even scary. Seeing her transform from a Disney star to a shameless woman eased my anxiety and it wasn’t just because rocking out to her bops released all my endorphins.
She made forgiving myself easier...I gained compassion for myself and realized it’s okay to go through change. If that meant distancing myself from my parents, that was normal. If that meant slapping the wine bag and then lying hungover in bed for the next 24 hours, that was fine. If that meant not knowing what to do after graduation, that was all right, too. Change is what opens doors to new beginnings.
Miley is soon releasing her seventh studio album titled She is Miley Cyrus, which answers my question as to who was coming after she teased fans with her EP titled SHE IS COMING. It all makes sense now — Miley is coming for us. She now struts strictly in head-to-toe leather with studded-punk jackets, chunky gold necklaces, and black-squared sunglasses, revealing she is ready to conquer. She channels badass Stevie Nicks energy as shown in this mashup of Nicks' iconic "Edge of Seventeen" anthem with Miley's disco-esque record "Midnight Sky." Although Miley's vocals resemble Nicks', Miley reminds us she is just being herself in her self-directed music video.
In the opening, she's dressed in Chanel, bedazzled with jewels, and even more dazzling makeup that makes it hard to look away. There's 80s energy all around as mirror balls flood the screen, but Miley reminds us she is her own female rebel as she proclaims, "I was born to run, I don’t belong to anyone. Oh no, I don't need to be loved by you."
Like clockwork, I found myself reeled in by Miley once more. The song is bittersweet because “Malibu” was an ode to Liam, her husband at the time, but now Miley was apparently finished with his inability to handle her evolution and she was ready to own herself and her choices. She sings, “You should know right now that I never stay put in one place.” Again, she pointedly reminds me how it’s okay to change and make decisions others or even yourself sometimes don't understand.
Feeling inspired and ready to own it, I set myself on the road to the midnight sky.
Ostensibly, I'm evolving at the same time she is. Coming home to myself, a fresh graduate, finding the confidence to remain self-aware and embracing the feeling of empowerment in the face of uncertainty, I've realized I'm also here just like Miley.
Commentaires