Miley Cyrus got “Flowers” from another music legend: Gloria Gaynor.
The 79-year-old disco singer, whose 1978 breakup anthem “I Will Survive” established her as an empowering musical icon, took to Instagram on Tuesday to praise Cyrus for her new song “Flowers.”
“I’m in Nashville working on new music and just heard ‘Flowers,'” Gaynor wrote, along with a clip from Cyrus’ music video for the song. “Your new song carries the torch of empowerment, encouraging people to find the strength within themselves to persevere and thrive. Miley, you did an excellent job!”
Cyrus appears to have been inspired by Gaynor’s “I Will Survive,” with social media mashups comparing the two songs’ melodic similarities.
“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is about finding self-love after heartbreak.
The song also appears to be a response to Bruno Mars’s 2012 hit “When I Was Your Man.” “I should have bought you flowers / And held your hand / Should have given you all my hours / When I had the chance / Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance,” Mars famously sings in that song.
“I can buy myself flowers / Write my name in the sand / Talk to myself for hours / Say things you don’t understand / I can take myself dancing / And I can hold my own hand / Yeah, I can love myself better than you can,” Cyrus sings in the chorus.
Cyrus released the song on the 33rd birthday of her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, which her fans believe was no coincidence.
Cyrus and Hemsworth divorced in 2019, less than a year into their marriage and ten years after meeting on a movie set. The ex-couple met while filming an adaptation of Nicholas Sparks’ “The Last Song” in 2009 and announced their engagement in 2012. Cyrus reintroduced her engagement ring in early 2016, and the couple married in Tennessee in December 2018.
