Not really understanding the lyrics you’re singing is apparently another thing that falls under the rubric of “just bein’ Miley.” An interview with Billy Ray Cyrus’ spawn reveals that the lyric in her Velveeta-and-Miracle-Whip single “Party In The USA” about hearing a Jay-Z song while in a taxicab is, shockingly, not based on real events. Someone else wrote that lyric, and she just did her job and warbled it through eighty layers of post-production. In fact, she’s never heard a Jay-Z song! Because she doesn’t listen to pop music! At all! Wait, what?
When asked about what Jay-Z song was on the mythical radio that the taxi driver turned on in “Party” (even paraphrasing the lyrics puts the song right in my head), she pleaded ignorance:
“I didn’t write the song, so I have no idea,” she said. “Honestly, I picked that song because I needed something to go with my clothing line. I didn’t write it [and] I didn’t expect it to be popular, originally. It was just something that I wanted to do and I needed some songs and it turned out for the best.”
So cold! So businesslike! (So possibly written by a publicist?) So… non-partyish! Especially when followed by the revelation that she doesn’t listen to pop at all, and that “Party” is, quote, “not even my style of music.” Because this:
Is so different from this:
(BTW, that song is such a rewrite of the Pet Shop Boys’ “Rent” it’s not funny.)
Jay-Z is too busy hamming it up with Bono and A-Rod to respond at the moment. Perhaps since she’s such an anti-pop type they can hash things out at a Grizzly Bear show?
[MTV; HT Jeff Rosenthal]
Miley Cyrus PARTY IN THE USA Video [Dailymotion]
Miley Cyrus - See you again DCG [Dailymotion]
I think we can all agree that Andrew WK deserves to have a song called “Party In The USA” doing this well, and Miley Cyrus does not. Andrew needs to take her to party school.
So cold! So businesslike!
She’s a hustler, baby.
P.S. Actually, I’m only half-kidding with that quip — she and Jigga are made for each other. I mean, I think The Black Album is one of the two or three best hip-hop albums of the decade, but wasn’t its leadoff single (”Change Clothes”) essentially a promotion for Rocawear?
So, can we pretend this is a Blind Item?
“D.O.A.”
Also, shouldn’t we be guessing what Britney song played at the club?
“E-Mail My Heart”
Noddin’ my head like *yeaaaah*/
movin’ units of long sleeve v-neck waffle tees like *yeaaaah*”
Wow, she just went from “the worst” to “the absolute fucking worst of all time.”
THANK YOU Maura. I have been trying to understand *why* I liked “See You Again” so much…it’s because it’s a retread of “Rent”…one of the most awesome Pet Shop Boys songs ever.
@dyfl: Full agreement.
I had the hook of “PitUSA” in my head for weeks before I could remember what song it was …
Anyway — I’m confused about the use of ‘kicks’ in the lyrics. Kicks are, in my estimation, sneakers. Like, sneakerhead sneakers. But, can it also signify cowboy boots, as in like, shitkickers? Because I’ve never heard it used that way before.
Also, dear pop songwriters — please, if you’re going to write inanity, please go the Girls Aloud route (which is kind of like, an evolution of the New Order lyrical strategy) — not just songs about nothing, songs about nothing that will make one fall apart at karaoke, because you’re singing about getting a cappuccino to go etc.
Wait — what does she listen to then? She can’t actually think she’s going to have a country music career? I sort of can’t believe she said this — this girl (or her publicity team) is usually so good at marketing (she got an EP to number 2 on the Billboard) — but I guess she knows/thinks her audience won’t care about her saying these things. Honestly, I thought her career arc made a lot more sense when read as an attempt to exploit recent pop trends by leveraging her way into some untapped, populist, Red State dance diva market. I mean she already outsells basically everyone on the Internet. She is such a mystery.
PS: I think these comments actually enhance the effect of whatever it was I liked about this song in the first place. (I know.)