top line
Miley Cyrus’ new empowerment anthem “Flowers” has taken the music streaming service and TikTok by storm just days after its release on Friday, following SZA’s “Kill Bill” and Shakira’s “BZRP.” It became the latest heartbreak song of the year. Music Session #53.
Miley Cyrus takes the stage live on day two of the Lollapalooza Brazilian Music Festival. … [+]
important facts
“Flowers” was the most-streamed song on Spotify on Sunday with 10.9 million streams.
“Flowers” is also Apple Music’s most-streamed song, surpassing SZA’s mega-hit “Kill Bill” to reach #1 on Amazon Music.
The music video for “Flowers” has 33 million views on YouTube and 154,000 videos are used as sound on TikTok.
main background
The lyrics to “Flowers” look like a riff to Bruno Mars’ 2012 song “When I Was Your Man.” Mars sings, “I should have bought you flowers/And held your hand/I should have given you all my time/If I had the chance/Take you to every party Should have gone…but she’s dancing with another man.” In the chorus of “Flowers,” Cyrus sings: My own hands/Yeah I can love me more than you The song also appears to sample a portion of Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 hit “I Will Survive.” Fans speculate that “Flowers” may be about Cyrus’ ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. The song was released on his birthday, and the use of Mars songs and other Easter eggs in the music video has been speculated to refer to Hemsworth and the couple’s relationship. It is the first single from Cyrus’ upcoming album “Endless Summer Vacation”, which will be released on September 19th.
tangent
“Flowers” isn’t the only breakup song to go viral this weekend. On Wednesday Shakira released “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” and on Saturday she hit #1 on Spotify. There are rumors about her former longtime partner, soccer star Gerard Pique. According to Genius’ English translation, she said in Spanish, “Her wolf like me ain’t for a man like you/I was out of your league so you/like you.” I’m with someone like this,” she sings. SZA’s song “Kill Bill” sang that she “might kill my ex-boyfriend.” billboard It’s been on the Hot 100 for a few weeks since its release last month, and last week it was #3.
References
Miley Cyrus fans think her new single ‘Flowers’ delves into her ex Liam Hemsworth. (insider)
Shakira’s breakup song gets incredibly hard (cut)