Flowers (Miley Cyrus song)
"Flowers" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus, taken from her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation (2023). Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on January 12, 2023, in some countries and January 13 worldwide. Cyrus wrote "Flowers" with Gregory Aldae Hein and Michael Pollack, while Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson handled the production. A pop song with disco, rock, and funk influences, its lyrics express an ex-lover's acceptance of being independent after no longer feeling the need to rely on someone else to be complete.
"Flowers"
January 12, 2023
January 2022
Sunset Sound Recorders (composed),[1] Ridgemont High, Los Angeles (recorded)
3:20
- Miley Cyrus
- Gregory Aldae Hein
- Michael Pollack
"Flowers" received positive reviews from music critics and was a massive commercial success, breaking many records. It was the best-selling global single of 2023, earning 2.70 billion subscription streams equivalents globally, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), making it Cyrus's most successful single worldwide to date. In the United States, the single debuted at number one and spent eight non-consecutive weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100 in addition to becoming Cyrus's second number-one song on the chart since "Wrecking Ball" (2013). "Flowers" became the longest-running number one-song in the history of the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, with 43 weeks at the top. The song was also a commercial success worldwide, debuting atop the Billboard Global 200 chart and staying at the summit for thirteen non-consecutive weeks. It topped the charts in 37 other countries including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Singapore, South Africa and the United Kingdom. It also broke a string of records on streaming services, including the Spotify record for the most-streamed song in a week (during both its first and second week) and the fastest song in Spotify history to surpass one billion streams (doing so in 112 days). As of April 2024, it has over 1.91 billion streams on Spotify, ranking among the 100 most-streamed songs on the platform.
Jacob Bixenman directed the music video for "Flowers", which features Cyrus performing dances in several locations, including an outdoor pool, a backyard, and on the roof of her house. Photography took place in Los Angeles with scenes shot at Elysian Park. In promotion of the song, Cyrus performed the song live on the album's accompanying documentary concert special, Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), and at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards. At the latter ceremony, "Flowers" won Record of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance, and also received a nomination for Song of the Year, marking Cyrus' career-first set of Grammy wins. It also won Best International Song at the Brit Awards 2024.
Production and release[edit]
"Flowers" was written by Miley Cyrus, Gregory "Aldae" Hein, and Michael Pollack in January 2022 in Sunset Sound Recorders studio in Hollywood, California. During a week of sessions, with the composers gathered around a piano, the song came together as a ballad, originally with a "slower and sadder" feel, according to Pollack.[1] He said: "We started with the chorus and, if I remember correctly, the lyric, melody, and progression started to form simultaneously. It's one of those 'circle of fifths's songs where the melody informs the progression and vice versa. It practically wrote itself." The initial demo version of the song was a stripped-back ballad, only consisting of Cyrus singing and Pollack playing the Rhodes piano. Then it evolved into the uptempo song.[5] Its final version was produced by Tyler Johnson and Kid Harpoon.[6]
On December 31, 2022, while hosting her NBC live special Miley's New Year's Eve Party, Cyrus announced "Flowers" would be released simultaneously in all markets on January 13, 2023.[7] The song was released on January 13 at UTC+00:00, which was still January 12 in some parts of the world.[8][9][10] The demo version of the song was released digitally on March 3, 2023.[11] It was also included on the digital version of Endless Summer Vacation album.[12]
Critical reception[edit]
Reviews[edit]
"Flowers" received favorable reviews from music critics, with many complimenting Cyrus' vocal delivery. According to Billboard's Jason Lipshutz, the single is not a "full-blown reinvention" for Cyrus, but "sturdy, hummable pop, and it captivates without bells or whistles."[2] The New York Times' Lindsay Zoladz described the song as "breezy" and opined that "the relatively subdued chorus melody may not demand much of Cyrus, but her vocals are imbued with a laid-back maturity and convincing self-assurance".[23] Consequence's Mary Siroky was appreciative of the song and Cyrus, writing that the singer "has played with genre extensively throughout her career, and it's probably because her voice just sounds good in every single one of them." She went on to add to the praise, stating that "once the chorus [in 'Flowers'] hits, she arrives at the conclusion that everything is going to be okay, and there's even a strong chance she'll be better off going forward: 'I can take myself dancing/ And I can hold my own hand/ Yeah, I can love me better than you can'." She also gave the song their "Song of the Week" status.[14] The Daily Telegraph's Neil McCormick called it "sophisticated perfection."[24]
Dale Maplethorpe of Gigwise felt that Cyrus's "incredibly recognizable voice chiming in and sounding fantastic" and noted that in the chorus "we hear a funky bassline and killer drums that don't leave the listener with much else to do other than bust a move". However, he felt that the song "does feel like it doesn't build as much as it could do" and "is lacking in the big finish that it seems to tease".[16] Writing for Pitchfork, Anna Gaca described the single as "generic", and Cyrus's vocal delivery as "sincerely unbothered". Gaca further negatively compared the song to "Shakira: Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53", stating that "calling it revenge is a reach, not when Shakira is ready to call you a Twingo: What we're really dealing with here is self-help", implying that the latter addressed the revenge topic in a better way.[4]
Music video[edit]
The January 12, 2023, release of "Flowers" was accompanied by its music video on Cyrus's Vevo channel via YouTube. It was directed by Jacob Bixenman, with cinematography by Marcell Rév.[159][160] It has over 700 million views on YouTube, as of February 2024.[161]
The video's opening uses panorama-view footage of Los Angeles above the downtown skyline. Cyrus enters by strutting across a bridge in Elysian Park.[162] When she arrives at her house, she strips into her bra and underwear as she walks past the sprinklers, goes swimming in her swimming pool, and does different outdoor exercises. Then Cyrus takes a shower and changes into a black outfit as she walks through her house and dances. By nightfall, she dances in her backyard and then dances on her roof as a helicopter flies above.
Vogue classified Cyrus dressed in vintage gold lamé gown from the Yves Saint Laurent Autumn/Winter 1991–92 collection, accessorized with square Saint Laurent sunglasses, noting that "somewhere in the metaphorical vintage hall of fame, a second-life savant is affixing a plaque with Miley Cyrus's name to the wall".[163] Hello! reported that her black underwear has generated trending online searches for "black lingerie sets", with search numbers increasing 413% following the release of the "Flowers" music video on January 13, 2023.[164]
Live performances[edit]
Cyrus performed "Flowers" in the documentary concert special Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions), which was released on Disney+ on March 10, 2023.[165] On November 21, 2023, she performed it live for the first time—over 10 months after the song's release—during a private event at the Chateau Marmont hotel in Los Angeles.[166][167] The performance was uploaded to her YouTube channel later that month.[168]
The first televised performance of "Flowers" took place at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards on February 4, 2024, over a year after its release.[169]