MILEY CYRUS: THE EVOLUTION THAT LEADED HER FROM “WRECKING BALL” TO “SLIDE AWAY”
It's been seven years since Miley Cyrus tore through our screens on a wrecking ball. The singer made an impact with her video for “Wrecking Ball”, a release that changed the direction of her career forever: she exposed the tear left by her ex and brought down the last remaining image of her as a Disney star.
"Wrecking Ball" is the result of the pain she went through when she split from Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, whom she met in 2009 when they starred in "The Last Song" together. On August 25, 2013, Miley told her side of her story in 3 minutes and 41 seconds. At 20 years old, she screamed at herself from a place full of frustration and helplessness: the relationship did not end on good terms, despite having fought for her survival.
She transparently confessed that she had put her ex on a pedestal and that she was never going to get over it: "I put you high up in the sky / And now, you're not coming down." She also showed a certain fear at being so attached to the past. "Wrecking Ball" is a symbol of mourning for the couple that no longer exists, but also for the version of Miley who died with the separation.
The music video, with the wrecking ball as the protagonist, refers to this internal destruction. Miley reinvented herself and left several aspects of her life behind: she said goodbye to a relationship after four years, buried her image as a Disney star, and completely renewed herself as an artist. This profound change modified both her sound and her image.
Liam Hemsworth came back to her life almost four years later and the couple's resurrection was immortalized with "Malibu", where Miley was immensely in love with her. At the end of 2018 they surprised with a secret marriage, but after a few months they revealed that they were going to divorce. Once again, the singer turned to music to share the intimacy of her separation: in August 2019, she released her single “Slide Away” and opened the doors with the phrase “Once upon a time, it was paradise” .
Miley, after a decade of back and forth with Liam, looked forward and demonstrated her personal growth. “Slide Away” is the other side of “Wrecking Ball”: she made evident her acceptance, maturity and desire to continue moving forward into the future, without being tied to any kind of grudges. The melody is led by a guitar that navigates over its own echo and is accompanied by hypnotizing choruses: thus, the song evokes nostalgia, but without giving signs of sadness.
The change in perspective that Miley had from one separation to another is remarkable. This time, she decides to get away from her and stop fighting over something that is not going to bear fruit. In 2013, she turned to Liam and accused him of tearing her to pieces: "All you ever did was wreck me." In "Slide Away", she accepts a new ending and recognizes that she is not the same girl she was when she met her ex, with phrases like "Baby we were found, but now we're lost / So it's time to let it go" and “Move on, we're not 17 / I'm not who I used to be”.
The video of her is flooded with a feeling of liberation. In "Slide Away", the singer wanders through a party that has already ended, where only the remains of an uncontrolled night remain. Miley ends up floating in a pool, an act that symbolizes her peaceful state after ten years of a relationship full of ups and downs and turbulence, and she makes it clear that she was finally able to leave the past behind her.
