Music Review: Miley Cyrus "Wrecking Ball"

Miley Cyrus

Wrecking Ball

Album: Bangerz

Year: 2013

                  Tough love backfires on Miley Cyrus in the striking “Wrecking Ball.”

                 A pensive synth opens the single, setting a stricken tone.   He stands in the foyer, hands on his hips, eyes glowering. Three years ago, she couldn’t have imagined such darkness existed inside of him. It took several tries to for them to get together. She was with someone else when they first met. She broke up with her then-boyfriend, realizing she had feelings for him. However, he had moved back home for awhile to help out his family. In their conversations, they assumed were going to get married someday. They had to get past the obstacles first. Within three months of dating, they bought a house together and started living together. It just seemed right at the time. The skepticism didn’t last long among their family and friends. They complement each other well. (“We clawed, we chained our hearts in vain/We jumped, never asking why/We kissed, I fell under your spell/A love no one could deny.”)

           In the pre-chorus, she tells him not to shift blame onto her. She wants to know what’s wrong. However, he won’t talk to her. It leaves her no other choice but to leave. She doesn’t want to. She cares for him more than she has for anyone else. But she can’t pretend that they are ok when they are barely speaking. (“Don’t you ever say I just walked away/I will always want you/I can’t live a lie, running for my life/I will always want you.”)

             In the chorus, she fell headfirst in love with him. But she failed to see the distance he put her. Even after three years later, she hasn’t learned why he won’t see his sister. He hasn’t ever cried with her. Instead, he pushed away, shouting for her to leave him alone. When she turned to leave, she would cover her mouth to muffle her sobs. (“I came in like a wrecking ball/I never hit so hard in love/All I wanted was to break your walls/All you ever did was wreck me/Yeah, you wreck me.”)

             She put up on a pedestal, talking him up to her friends and family as a great guy. One day, he’s going to run the department at his job. No one has ever had treated her with such respect. Over the course of the relationship, he did become manager within his department and she began notice that he was looking down at her. He would tell her she wasn’t trying hard enough to better herself. He would comment on her clothes, saying they were inapproriate. Although she was proud of his success, she wished he could be the humble person she fell for.  (“I put you high up in the sky/And now, you’re not coming down/It slowly turned, you let me burn/And now, we’re ashes on the ground.”)

               The pre-chorus is sung again.

               In the second chorus, she adds she was blinded by her adoration for him. However, she realizes he would throw her under a bus if it meant saving his behind. (“I came in like a wrecking ball…All you ever did was wreck me/I came in like a wrecking ball/Yeah, I just closed my eyes and swung/Left me crouching in a blaze and fall/All you ever did was wreck me/Yeah, you wreck me.”)

             In the bridge, the fight had started after he was silent during dinner. He was pushing his food around his plate. She had finished eating, rinsed her dish and threatened to leave unless he told her what was going on. He screamed at her to stay out of his buisness. Now, she knows she only worsened things between them. She should’ve told him what she had been thinking. (“I never meant to start a war/I just wanted you to let me in/And instead of using force/I guess I should’ve let you in/I never meant to start a war/I just wanted you to let me in/I guess I should’ve let you in/Don’t you ever say I just walked away/I will always want you.”)

                The second chorus is sung again to close the single.

          Cyrus’ distressed vocals try to maintain her composure but the cracks give her emotions away. She’s had wanted the relationship to work. She tried whatever she thought. None of it was enough. She provoked him and won’t forgive herself for it. It cost to lose a major important person in her life. She may not see it now but she did the right thing.

                   The grand “Wrecking Ball” spares no expense in the cleanup of the VMA trainwreck.