Sophia Michaels
Miley Cyrus made quite a statement when she dropped her hit “Flowers,” along with its music video, on Jan. 12. The visual for the upbeat track, which boasts an ode to self-love, features scenes of Cyrus prancing around in a statement gold dress and stripping down to black lingerie by her pool. However, the carefree, summeresque song itself includes lyrics that seemingly allude to Cyrus’s ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth, plus the home they once shared.
Liam Hemsworth References in Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers”
“We were right ’til we weren’t / Built a home and watched it burn,” she sings in the first verse, referring to the house she and Hemsworth shared in Malibu that was destroyed by the 2018 Woosley Fire. In the hook, she also adds, “I didn’t wanna leave you / I didn’t wanna lie / Started to cry / but then remembered I,” which seems to refer to the final days of Cyrus and Hemsworth’s marriage.
Cyrus and Hemsworth first met in 2009 and dated on and off for a decade before they tied the knot in 2018. The two were only married for seven months before Hemsworth filed for divorce in August 2019. That month, shortly after news of their separation broke, People reported, per a source, that Cyrus “really fought to make it work” with her ex. However, she’s since moved on to Liily drummer Maxx Morando, whom she’s been dating for over a year now.
Although Cyrus has a new love in her life, it’s clear her hit song from her eighth studio album, titled “Endless Summer Vacation,” is still hashing out her romantic past. And now it’s started a cheating rumor mill about her ex Hemsworth and his “Hunger Games” costar Jennifer Lawrence.
Jennifer Lawrence Gold Dress Rumored Reference in Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers”
During a June 26 appearance on “Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen,” Lawrence shut down speculation that Cyrus referenced her in the “Flowers” video, per the gold dress the singer wears. For context, Lawrence wore a gold dress on the red carpet with Hemsworth for the “Hunger Games”‘s Los Angeles premiere in 2012, but she told host Cohen there’s no correlation between the two.
Cohen told the actor, “There was already a lot of talk that the music video was referencing a secret fling that you had with Liam Hemsworth while he was with Miley Cyrus, can you please respond this—,” to which Lawrence immediately responded, “Not true. I would love to. Not true. Total rumor.”
She also added, “I mean, we all know that me and Liam, like, kissed one time. It was years after they broke up. So I just assume that was like a coincidence.”
Bruno Mars Reference in Miley Cyrus’s “Flowers”
Cyrus’s Hemsworth references in “Flowers” aren’t the only thing fans picked up on in the song. Upon a closer listen, it appears that part of “Flowers” mirrors a famous Bruno Mars song, his 2013 breakup anthem “When I Was Your Man,” as the chorus replicates similar lyrics from the old smash.
If you listen closely, Cyrus’s lyrics “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” sound an awful lot like Mars’s “I should have bought you flowers / And held your hand / Should have gave you all my hours / When I had the chance / Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance.”
Rumor has it, Hemsworth once dedicated Mars’s song to Cyrus. On Jan. 9, a Twitter user wrote in a viral tweet, “miley cyrus wrote a song as a response to this bruno mars’ song which liam once dedicated to her, and she’s releasing it on his birthday 💀.” Considering the timing of “Flowers”‘s release (one day before Hemsworth’s birthday, Jan. 13), it seems the song has a lot more significance beyond its theme of self-love.
Listen to Cyrus’s “Flowers” above, and see if you can catch all the similarities from Mars’s “When I Was Your Man” ahead.
