Entertainment

These Miley Cyrus 'Younger Now' Lyrics Are Totally About Her Relationship With Liam Hemsworth

by S. Atkinson
Kevin Winter/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

The name was the first clue. After all, the passing of time applies to even dewy-faced pop stars, so if Miley Cyrus' album Younger Now is given that title, considering its chanteuse is now a full two years older than when she released Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz, maybe it's a metaphor. You know, about true love and stuff, because there are an awful lot of Younger Now album lyrics about Liam Hemsworth.

And why wouldn't she want to celebrate? If you've followed the twists and turns of the high-profile couple over the years, you'll know that they only reunited relatively recently after a long break up. According to Cosmopolitan, Hemsworth and Cyrus broke up in September 2013, after breaking off their engagement, while an unnamed source confirmed to People that Hemsworth and Cyrus had got back together in January 2016.

The singer herself told Ellen DeGeneres that she was officially engaged to The Hunger Games star in October of the same year. So, it's no surprise that her fiancé has been on the "Wrecking Ball" singer's mind while penning her latest songs. You know what they say; write what you know. Well, she definitely has, and it's going to give you goosebumps.

1

"But Here I Am, Next To You/The Sky's More Blue In Malibu/ Next To You In Malibu" ("Malibu")

According to Cosmpolitan, the pair have a personal connection to Miami; they claim it's where Cyrus and Hemsworth currently live. So, yeah, this feels like a shoo-in for being a lyric about the Australian in her life.

2

"We Watched The Sun Go Down As We Were Walkin'/ I'd Spent The Rest Of My Life Just Standing Here Talkin'" ("Miami")

It's believed that Cyrus and Hemsworth met on the set of The Last Song, which was a film about a teen falling in love in a beach town. Working on that would have required a fair bit of making out with Hemsworth on a beach, and that's possibly how the pair had their first kiss. As such, this couplet feels resonant; there's at least one sunset scene in the movie. Perhaps this is the "Thinkin'" singer rewinding back to how they first fell in love.

3

"You Would Explain The Current, As I Just Smile" ("Malibu")

In her 2017 Billboard interview above, Cyrus actually spells out that yes, this lyric — and song — is explicitly about her fiancee. She explained that she wrote the line because she “never knows what the hell [Liam] is talking about,” because he's a surfer and he wants to talk about "what's happening under there." She also jokes that she thinks when he says this, "there's dolphins down there."

4

"And I Wanna Thank You With All Of My Heart/ It's A Brand New Start" ("Week Without You")

As Genius has already observed, there's a possibility this song is about her breakup with her long-time beau, with Cyrus waxing lyrical about the pros of a breakup to Sirius XM in 2017. She told the station that she thought people breaking up and getting back together was "awesome" because this meant that these same people "get time to be yourself." She continued:

"You get time to grow up. I think if you’re growing up attached to another person, you never really get solid as your own being. So I’m really solid and then he gets to be really solid and then together we get to be two really grounded people. It’s not a half and a half making a whole."

As such, this unusually positive breakup song could very well be about Hemsworth, given how upbeat it sounds about separation.

5

"If I Spent A Week Without You/ Bet You'd Wonder What I Do/ I Think That I’d Start Going Out/ Get Caught Kissing Other Dudes" ("Week Without You")

Well, this did kind of happen. While it's perfectly possible that this song is entirely based on hypotheticals, after the pair split in 2013, she was caught kissing Patrick Schwarzenegger at a football game and she kissed her personal assistant, Cheyne Thomas at a party.

6

"It Seems You Just Wanna Bring Me Down, Down With Your Bad Attitude (Bad Attitude)" ("Week Without You")

While this seems like a jarring contrast to some of the more loved-up songs, it's perfectly possible that this is just the Younger Now star being honest about how things were circa the breakup. During Cyrus's Billboard interview in May 2017, the singer made it sound as if, at one point, she had become claustrophobic in her relationship: "I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard." She continued: "Suddenly you're like, 'I don't recognize you anymore.' We had to re-fall for each other."

7

"When You're Gone Time Moves So Slow/ Like The Grass, I've Watched Us Grow" ("I Would Die For You")

We're talking about someone who the 24-year-old has been on and off with for the past seven years. Really, who else is this going to be about?

8

"I Am Yours And You Are Mine/ I Have Your Heart, I Don't Even Need A Ring" ("I Would Die For You")

In her interview with Ellen DeGeneres, the singer opened up about her engagement ring from Hemsworth and expressed that, since it's a classic piece of jewelry, it's not really her style; she prefers gummy rings. However, she wears it because she loves him. Cyrus went on to stress that the engagement ring didn't necessarily mean that a legal ceremony would be following on from this, that it was more about sharing a life together. She also told The Sun On Sunday in September 2017, "I don’t envision marriage. I’m 24. I hope to get to live a little bit more. I have too much living to do [before I get married]."

9

"You're Not Him/ She's Not Him/ No Matter What You Say/ No Matter What You Do I Just Can't Fall In Love With You" ("She's Not Him")

Aside from dating Patrick Schwarzenegger, during her break from Hemsworth, Cyrus was linked with another celeb romantically: Victoria Secret's model Stella Maxwell. Sure, Cyrus also kissed Cara Delevigne during her single period, but, given that this seemed more like a stunt for a photo between friends rather than a fling, it seems more likely this song is dedicated to the model... not being Liam Hemsworth.

10

"But You Brought Me Here And I’m Happy That You Did/Cause Now I’m As Free As Birds Catching The Wind" ("Malibu")

On The Zach Sang Show, Cyrus explained the lyric and stated that this was about her finding her own reason to be at the beach "not staying there just because you did," but because it felt right to her. "So, it’s also about finding myself through a relationship," she said. "Which I think people usually get lost in."

11

"Livin' In A Rainbowland/ Where You And I Go Hand In Hand Together" ("Rainbowland")

This could be about just about anyone. But Dolly Parton, who sings on the track, seems to drop a clue in her answer machine message outro when she says, "I'll write that love song for you. You probably wrote it about some boy you loved, didn't ya?" Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, who else does Ms. Cyrus love in 2017? Probably nobody but Hemsworth.

12

"To Make Somebody Stay/ You Gotta Love Someone" ("Love Someone")

Maybe the pop star was inspired by what Hemsworth told GQ Australia about their relationship: "I guess when I feel something, then I just feel it and I go for it. I make my decisions about what's going to make me happy." Potentially, this is about her fueling his faith in their relationship by being as loving and nurturing as possible.

13

"You Know I'd Miss You, Babe" ("Week Without You")

While the song is cunningly structured as a hypothetical week off from a relationship, it's also all too real: Cyrus did smooch other dudes and change her wardrobe, but, most of all, Cyrus missed Hemsworth enough to travel to Australia in 2016 to see how they still felt about each other.

If you've been 'shipping the pair since forever, this album's for you. It's going to give you the warm fuzzies all through cuffing season.