Miley Cyrus Buys Herself Flowers

Miley Cyrus has a number one hit – Flowers. It has topped the ARIA and Billboard 100 charts, as well as Spotify streaming records. What makes this song a runaway success?

It is more than music. The song is about a relationship breakdown. It alludes to all sorts of incidents that just so happen to parallel Miley’s break-up with superstar Australian actor, Liam Hemsworth. For instance, their house burned down, and the lyrics talk about watching a house burn. This has teenage girls going crazy on social media, joining all sorts of dots.

The chorus of the song is as follows: 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 me better than you can.

There is a deeper trend here. Emma Watson (from Harry Potter) describes her relationship status not as single, but self-partnered. While you get your head around that term, here is another:

Solo polyamory – where you are single, with multiple or serial sexual partners.

Let’s come back to Miley Cyrus and her lyrics. Sure, you buy yourself flowers, talk and dance with yourself, but is it the same? I think not.

God exists in relationship, and Adam was incomplete without Eve. The curse for Eve is that her relationship with her spouse is strained. But to conclude that all partner relationships risk being so toxic it’s better to be single is unrealistic and shallow.

There is an opportunity for Christians to express and model other person centeredness that fulfils our deepest relational needs. This will be a real witness, being known for our love.

We all need to love, and be loved, and occasionally receive flowers from someone else.