Over the past two weeks, the song “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus has blown up. In its first week of release, the song has blown up on TikTok, and many influencers have made videos lip-syncing to this song. The song is also now #1 in the United Kingdom and broke the Spotify chart record, becoming the #1 in the Weekly Top Songs Global. 

But why is this song so popular? Miley has always grabbed headlines with her often provocative work, but this time seems different. The success of “Flowers” is less a result of Miley’s personality and is instead getting acclaim for its great beat and inspirational lyrics… which look to be inspired by some real-life drama in Miley’s life.

This song has given and empowered every jilted ex that’s listened. The song begins with a very soft introduction as it connects to Miley’s latest break up, she further goes on to deeply express how perfect the relationship was, until she realizes she’s fine on her own. The lyrics then fall into place to embody “I’m better off without them,” which leads the song to the feeling of power and self-love as the lyrics are full of pure energy and rage. In spite of that, the song is so much more than just power, it’s full of revenge. 

What most listeners don’t notice during the first listen is it’s an inverse of another big hit almost from a decade ago. “Flowers” directly mirrors “When I Was Your Man” by Bruno Mars, echoing the lyrics of Mars’ regretful sentiments, Miley protests with a different perspective, while both songs share similarities, Bruno’s song is an expression of regret after losing a romantic partner which has lyrics that includes: “I should have bought you flowers and held your hand / Should have gave you all my hours when I had the chance / Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance.”

While Miley’s song is the “answer song” , flipping it serves as a statement that she can provide for herself: “I can buy myself flowers / Write my name in the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don’t understand,” she sings. “I can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love me better than you can.” 

Why Bruno Mars? Why does Miley essentially write the inverse of Mars’ #20 hits? The speculation behind Miley’s song is centered around Liam Hemsworth. This is allegedly both a song and sweet revenge. According to Buzzfeed, fans theorized that Liam Hemsworth dedicated “When I Was Your Man” to Miley Cyrus. Miley gets her subtle revenge by reinventing the song and making the song about self-love, what makes the song even better is the song coincidentally dropped on Liam’s 33rd birthday. It doesn’t stop there, in the music video she wore a suit, not just any suit, fans believe she is wearing the suit that belongs to Hemsworth claiming it’s the same one he wore to the Avengers: Endgame premiere in 2019 when he ostensibly told her to “behave for once” after playfully licking him on the red carpet. Not to mention the music video took place in the Malibu house whom she shared with Hemsworth. 

Miley’s song has become the first song since “Drivers License” by Olivia Rodrigo to amass over 50 millions streams in the past successive weeks on the billboard. Miley’s song channels something different than Olivia but it’s helping fans as it brings personality and unseen gossip to the stage. While Olivia’s song pieced together its real-life parallels and is identified with a heartfelt sentiment of loss that is expressed, Miley handles her breakup a different way by putting her ex on blast, which has surprisingly been relatable for tons of fans as they support the self-love anthem that Miley has unleashed. The meaning behind “Flowers” is clearly personal and Miley left no crumbs of the relationship drama.