Miley Cyrus is 32. It feels like she’s been with us 100 years, even if it’s actually been just 19 since Hannah Montana erupted like a cutecore supernova.
Since then, we’ve watched Miley Cyrus spin through just about every pop-culture trope you can imagine, from squeaky-clean Disney girl to poster child for child stars run amok. She’s been married and divorced. She “came in like a wrecking ball” (swinging, infamously, naked on said construction equipment). She’s embraced Jesus (OK, a long time ago), and traded her wholesome role-model vibe for tawdrier personas.
Given all of that, it’s not a huge surprise that her latest single, “Something Beautiful,” is likewise a lyrical and stylistic mélange that’s both romantic and suggestive, hopeful and heartbroken, relaxed and deeply agitated. The verses embody a smokey, old-school jazz club vibe, while the song’s chorus shifts into a different sonic universe—something closer to psychedelic rock.
The song’s second verse expresses a longing for beauty and belonging (“Tell me something beautiful, yeah, about this world/ … Tell me something I can hold on to, you’re who I belong to”), for affection and faithfulness (“I drown in devotion as deep as the ocean/So don’t let me go, no, no, no”).
The first verse, in contrast, perhaps suggests world-weary physical intimacy that doesn’t satisfy (“Ah, water to red wine, kissing to kill time/ … Ah, watching the doves cry into the sunrise”). Other lines in the chorus strongly imply a sexual relationship without getting too explicit: “Boy, I’m losing my breath/I’m undressing, I’m confessing that I’m so obsessed, yes.”
And the chorus repeatedly says, “Oh, flash, bang, spark/Send home the guards and lay down your arms,” maybe reinforcing the song’s focus on finding momentary solace in an ecstatic connection with someone, even if that connection seems unlikely to go the distance.
The song’s outro concludes on an emotionally seared note, with Cyrus seemingly numb to the fact that her partner is more interested in consuming her than cherishing her: “Eat my heart, break my soul/Take my parts, let me go.”
The song’s performance video features Cyrus in some revealing outfits as she dances suggestively a times.
Miley Cyrus has certainly delivered more explicit, more problematic songs earlier in her career. That said, the lyrics in “Something Beautiful” paint a sad portrait of a woman who still longs for lasting love, but who by her own admission seems willing to settle for a momentary-but-hollow substitute. And if her soul gets eaten up in the process, so be it.
After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.
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