Miley Cyrus dropped the first song of her highly anticipated album, ‘Endless Summer Vacation’, along with a new music video for a single on the album. The single, ‘Flowers’, is centered around Cyrus finding joy and empowerment within herself after a breakup. 

On the birthday of ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, Cyrus dropped ’Flowers’, taking the day for herself, according to freshman Sophie Ignatova. The song is rumored to be written about her past relationship with Hemsworth because of the release date. 

“The fact that the song was released on Liam Hemsworth’s birthday is just another component that adds to the controversy,” Ignatova said. “Miley Cyrus took over the day, kind of disregarding his birthday— so it’s hard to believe that it is written about someone else,”

Hemsworth and Cyrus were together on and off after meeting on a movie set in 2009, according to People Magazine. They were engaged twice before finally setting their relationship in stone in 2018 — however, less than a year later, the couple separated. 

Cyrus made this breakup public by not shying away from the topic within interviews. According to junior Kristen Yueh, it’s no surprise this song was released.

“I’m honestly not surprised that she would write this song about her situation,” Yeuh said. “I don’t know a ton about Miley Cyrus, but from what I’ve heard, I can say that she was public about her dealing with the separation,” 

Although there is no confirmation about who this song is written about or dedicated to, it is hard to ignore the many clues within the song, according to freshman Julia McKinnon. The lyrics match up with the popular 2012 Bruno Mars song, ‘When I Was Your Man’. 

“‘When I Was Your Man’ was Hemsworth and Cyrus’ first dance song, so there is a personal component to choosing those lyrics,” McKinnon said. “Miley’s song is definitely a response to Bruno’s song — I mean, the lyrics match up directly,”

‘Flowers’ music video depicts Cyrus taking off a golden gown — representing her past relationship — which was described as ‘gold’ in the first verse. The video centers on self empowerment and freedom within herself, according to history teacher Lauren O’Donnell.

“There is a clear correlation between the lyrics and the video,” O’Donnell said. “The intricate details were very clever and displayed a clear message,”

‘Flowers’ currently has 10.9 million streams on Spotify, making it the most listened to song across multiple platforms. Whether Miley Cyrus wrote this song about Liam Hemsworth or not, the song is climbing the charts within the music industry, according to forbes.com. 

“It’s worth mentioning that ‘Flowers’ might not be about Liam — Miley Cyris has had a few relationships since then,” Ignatova said. “However, the clues including the release date and the song ‘When I Was Your Man’ make it hard to think otherwise — other than that, though, it’s a great song to sing along with.”