In a bid to remind people of what a still-underlooked masterpiece Something Beautiful is (in truth, among her best albums to date), Miley Cyrus has returned with a new single, “Secrets,” from the deluxe edition of the record. Perhaps unfortunately timing the release to coincide with the advent of Cardi B’s Am I the Drama? and Lola Young’s I’m Only F**king Myself, it’s possible that her new iteration of the album might get lost in the proverbial shuffle, but, hopefully, listeners will at least pay attention to the fact that “Secrets” exists, if not the fact that a deluxe album does. And that, more importantly, it’s Cyrus’ “peace offering” to her father, Billy Ray Cyrus (as in, the man that made her a nepo baby).
That said, in captioning a clip of the video on her Instagram account, Cyrus was sure to say, “This song was written as a peace offering for someone I had lost for a time but always loved. In my experience, forgiveness and freedom are one and the same… This song is for my dad” (though, as alluded to, it’s as much for her as it is for him, because it means being free of the toxic emotions that come with resentment). Accordingly, the single, co-produced by Cyrus, Jonathan Rado, Shawn Everett and Michael Pollack, bears an extremely nostalgic sound—one that’s drenched in the vibe of 1980s-era Fleetwood Mac.
So, naturally, why shouldn’t Cyrus have Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood accompany her on the track (though, noticeably missing is Stevie Nicks—even if she seems to have reconciled her differences with Buckingham earlier this year)? Indeed, it’s their contributions that help make the song sound more distinctive and unique despite lyrics that are frequently ripe with banalities that have already been well-played. Namely, Cyrus’ assurance, “Anywhere you go, you know I’ll follow/I’ll follow anywhere you go.”
This, of course, smacks of Peggy March’s “I Will Follow Him,” when she sings, “I will follow him/Follow him, wherever he may go.” Worse than that, it mimics The Calling’s only hit, “Wherever You Will Go,” when Alex Band promises, “I’ll go wherever you will go/Way up high or down low.” Regardless of Cyrus reemploying this cliché, she makes it all her own, especially with the haute couture-drenched visual that accompanies her earnest pledge. Fittingly dramatic in its presentation—while also embodying the aesthetic of one of Cyrus’ many high-fashion brand commercials/print ads of the moment (e.g., Gucci and Maison Margiela)—the newly “matured” singer roams an empty space while outfitted in an all-white getup (complete with the kind of headpiece Madonna was rocking at the 2021 VMAs afterparty), presumably Maison Margiela. And yes, she even has the audacity to insert a Katy Perry-coined phrase when she announces, “We’re chained to the rhythm.”
But whatever baggage she was previously chained to when it came to her relationship with her father, Cyrus has decided to not only let it go, but to rebuild with this song. One that Billy Ray was so touched by that he even felt compelled to write of it on his Instagram account, “For my birthday, Miley gave me the gift of music and wrote me a song called ‘Secrets’ and got my favorite musicians Fleetwood Mac to play on it! I love you Mile.” And yes, it’s not lost on anyone that Cyrus has further layered the song’s weight and meaning by including these two heavy-hitting musicians from a previous generation. The intent being to “bridge the divide” by joining forces. Of course, that doesn’t mean that Lindsey or Mick were about to appear in the video with her.
Instead, Cyrus carries the song all on her own in this regard, walking through an empty theater at the midpoint of the video in a perhaps even more dramatic ensemble, this one featuring a bejeweled black mask she wears while sitting down in one of the red fabric-upholstered seats. Slowly, she pulls the mask off, as though to symbolically mirror that she’s now decided to let down all her defenses when it comes to dealings with her father (would that Lana Del Rey could say the same about her mother). This echoing her surrender to vulnerability in the very first verse of the song (the verse that happens to contain the most original-sounding lyrics), “Secrets, I wanna keep your secrets/Like sunlight in the shadows/Like footsteps in the grass/I won’t ever break my promise/Like a songbird in the silence/Like stones against the glass.”
This urging on Cyrus’ part for her father to fully grasp that he can trust her with things/information he might have previously been afraid to share (especially based on the reactions that Miley set a precedent with) is meant to be a sign of her growth. A show of newfound strength and resilience when it comes to handling family matters she previously couldn’t. In other words, the family matter pertaining her parents’ divorce in 2022. At the time, Cyrus heavily took sides with her mother, Tish, but, in the present, she’s learned to accept both parents’ choices and the individual lives they’re currently leading (with both having moved on to new partners).
After lying down on the floor of the theater to sing, “Can I be your hero?/Call off all your forces/A white flag in the war” (an image and vocal timbre that recalls “End of the World,” itself a song written for her mother), Cyrus seems to purge something from within herself.
So it is that she emerges from the theater bearing an aura that suggests she’s been “transformed,” with the marquee outside displaying the lyrics, “Anywhere You Go Know I’ll Follow” as though they’re a movie title. And, in the movie that’s been Cyrus’ life thus far, that little platitude hasn’t always been the case (except when it came to Liam Hemsworth—and we all saw how that turned out). If it is now, it’s only because Cyrus has gone through the emotional work to make it so. At least for select people in her orbit.
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