No, we’re not yet out of the Endless Summer Vacation era, not with “Used To Be Young” getting Miley Cyrus in the mood to lead us down the beautiful moments that were made when she was creating the record. What can we do except to give her our hands and enjoy the nostalgia of our own childhood through her lens?
Cyrus has been many things throughout her childhood, teenage years, twenties, going into her thirties: Hannah Montana, for one, and an overly scrutinized and criticized star for another. At one point, Cyrus might have agreed with the media’s verdict of her character, but now she just sees it as adults judging a kid too cruelly. But for her to get to this stage when she can look back to her younger years and see where she or the media or fans might have gone wrong, she had to step into a new era of her life. Now, she’s almost looking back at these moments as if she emerged from a cocoon and became a different person. What you call “wild,” Miley just calls being young. And yes, believe it or not, there was a time when she “used to be young.”
Hearing the words “I know I used to be wild… I know I used to be crazy” from the same singer who gave us “Can’t Be Tamed” is all we need to know that life has different chapters. Change, even in our characters, is inevitable, and that’s what Cyrus aims to portray in the song, “Used To Be Young.”
Speaking of the inspiration behind the song, Cyrus says, “These lyrics were written almost 2 years ago at the beginning of my ESV. It was at a time I felt misunderstood. I have spent the last 18 months painting a sonic picture of my perspective to share with you. The time has arrived to release a song that I could perfect forever. Although my work is done, this song will continue to write itself everyday. The fact it remains unfinished is a part of its beauty. That is my life at this moment ….. unfinished yet complete.”
She teased the single with snippets from her backyard sessions and clips from her music video, which she confessed brought up so many “real emotions.” In honor of the single, she took part in a retrospective interview on ABC and shared stories from the first thirty years of her life.
