Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ Originally Had Pretty Much The Exact Opposite Message Of The Final Version

Miley Cyrus made a strong return this year with her song “Flowers,” which instantly became a beloved No. 1 hit. Fans loved it for its fierce confidence and its not-so-subtle digs at her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, made by playing with the words of Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man.”

In a new interview with British Vogue, she revealed that the track was initially much less optimistic.

“I wrote it in a really different way,” she said. “The chorus was originally: ‘I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand, but I can’t love me better than you can.’ It used to be more, like, 1950s. The saddest song. Like: ‘Sure, I can be my own lover, but you’re so much better.’” She added, “The song is a little fake it till you make it, which I’m a big fan of.”

“Flowers” comes from her new album Endless Summer Vacation. About the record, she explained, “When it comes to the sequencing of ‘Endless Summer Vacation,’ I divided it by two parts, ‘AM’ and ‘PM,’ to kind of represent almost an act,” she said. “The ‘AM’ to me is representing the morning time, where there’s a buzz and an energy, and there’s a potential of new possibilities. It’s a new day.”