Sophia Michaels
Miley Cyrus’s “Endless Summer Vacation” album has been a source of both heartbreak and happiness. On the album, the song “Thousand Miles” featuring Brandi Carlile stands out as more than just a song about a broken relationship. During her “Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions)” special on Disney+, Cyrus revealed that the country-pop ballad is actually a tribute to her younger sister, Noah Cyrus. She explained that she wrote the song after one of her close friends lost her sister to suicide. The original version was called “Happy Girl,” and the lyrics were about wanting her sister to be happy, even if it meant a world without her.
The finished song strays from the sadness that initially inspired it and focuses more on Cyrus’s appreciation for her relationship with Noah through the good times and the bad. In the official version, Cyrus sings, “I told myself I closed that door, but I’m right back here again. I know half of what I’m saying don’t make no sense, so don’t ask me where I been. I’m not always right. But still I ain’t got time for what went wrong. Where I end up, I don’t really care. I’m out of my mind. But still I’m holding on like a rolling stone, a thousand miles from anywhere.”
Cyrus is glad that the song embodies the beauty of her relationship with Noah. She said, “It was about happiness and sisterhood, and it just makes me emotional, because now the song is filled with so much joy in the music and it’s become something so far from the sadness that inspired the song.”
If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal ideation or is at risk, please reach out to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255 for help and resources.
