Buckle Up, We're Breaking Down Miley Cyrus' "Used to Be Young" Lyrics
Miley Cyrus is dropping an emotional bomb of a song on August 25 called "Used to Be Young,' and this week, she revealed the lyrics to fans. She posted the handwritten lyrics to the song on her Instagram for all to see.
"Used To Be Young. August 25th. These lyrics were written almost 2 years ago at the beginning of my ESV. It was at the 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. Sincerely, Miley," she wrote in the caption.
"This single will hit different for those who were back there supporting Miley," one fan commented. "You can change your hair, you can change your clothes, you can change your mind that's just the way it goes. You can say goodbye or you can say hello, but you'll always find the way back home:) 🌈✨🌊🫶🏼," another user wrote, referencing her Hannah Montana song 'You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home.' 🥹
August 25 is an important date for Miley, which she discussed in the lead-up to the single's release. "I decided to release 'Used To Be Young' on August 25 because this particular date historically has been important to me personally and in my career," Miley said in a teaser video that she posted to her Insta on August 18.
The reason why August 25 matters is twofold. On August 25, 2010, Miley and her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth reportedly broke up for the first time before their divorce in January 2020. Then on August 25, 2013, Miley released her hit song "Wrecking Ball," which is rumored to be about Liam. The "Wrecking Ball" music video also sparked a lot of controversy when the former child star was seen swinging naked on a wrecking ball and licking a sledgehammer. Later that day, Miley received even more backlash after she infamously twerked on Robin Thicke on the VMAs stage.
In an in interview with British Vogue in May, Miley said, "I carried some guilt and shame around myself for years because of how much controversy and upset I really caused. Now that I'm an adult, I realize how harshly I was judged. I was harshly judged as a child by adults and now, as an adult, I realize that I would never harshly judge a child."
With that background info, let's get into the lyrics Miley's new song "Used to Be Young."
The truth is bullet proof there's no
Fooling you... I don't dress the same
Me +who ya say I was yesterday
Have gone our separate ways
Left my living fast somewhere
In the past cause that's for chasing cars
Turns out open bars lead to
Broken hearts + going way too far
Miley opens the emotional song with a bang, and it seems like these lyrics may be referencing the way the public still views her as that Disney child star.
As Miley got older, and specifically when she put out "Wrecking Ball," there was a lot of outrage because she was straying from her innocent Hannah Montana/Disney Channel persona. But Miley just wanted to separate herself from her Disney Days because she wasn't a kid anymore, which the lines "Me + who ya say I was yesterday / Have gone our separate ways" could represent.
In the song, she also says "I don't dress the same," which could be about how she she would wear more mature and revealing clothing as she got older, which also seemed to upset people.
I know I used to be crazy
I know I used to be fun
You say I used to be wild
I say I used to be young
You tell me time has done changed me
That's fine I've had a good run
I know I used to be crazy
That's cause I used to be young
In the chorus, Miley seems to be talking about how people portrayed her as a wild girl who suddenly lashed out and over-sexualized herself, when in reality she was just young and growing up and being herself. She says, "I know I used to be crazy / That's cause I used to be young," and that could be about how being a child star made her life so public, which meant her mistakes were public as well.
She also says, "You tell me time has done changed me / That's fine I've had a good run." Here, she could be talking about the constant criticism she received for being unlike her kid self, but she's okay with it because she's "had a good run" with her younger self, and she's different now. As we all grow and go through things, we change. It's just a part of life.
Take one pour it out not worth
Crying bout things ya can't erase
Like tattoos + regrets words I
Never meant + ones that got away
Left my living fast somewhere
In the past + took another road
Turns out crowded rooms empty out as soon
There's somewhere else to go
In this verse, Miley sings, "Not worth / Crying bout things ya can't erase / Like tattoos + regrets words I / Never meant + ones that got away," and this seems to be an ode to her past and how she lives with no regrets because she can't change what already happened. This may also be a suggestion to the public—and the people who judged her so harshly when she was growing up—,telling them she's left that part of her life in the past and they should, too.
She also says, "Left my living fast somewhere / In the past + took another road / Turns out crowded rooms empty out as soon / There's somewhere else to go," talking about the life other people had painted for her and how they wanted her to be somebody that she's not. Instead, she chose to be herself and live her own life by her own means, but she may have lost some "supporters" along the way.
[Chorus]
I know I used to be crazy
Messed up but god was it fun
I know I used to be wild
That's cause I used to be young
Those wasted nights are not wasted
I remember every one
I know I used to be crazy
That's cause I used to be young
You tell me time has done changed me
That's fine I've had a good run
I know I used to be crazy
That's cause I used to be young
Miley touches more on the theme of just being young and having fun when when she says, "Messed up but god was it fun," as well as living without regrets when she says, "Those wasted nights are not wasted / I remember every one."
Just like most of us, Miley's core memories from her young adulthood come from fun nights with friends when you maybe don't make the best choices, but you come out with the best moments.
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