Miley Cyrus - 'Fly On The Wall'
Miley Cyrus is very famous. Very, very famous. Adored by pre-teens, loathed by hipsters, she's the star of Hannah Montana and, thanks to one very, very brilliant song on her last album, a pop star in her own right. She's also of course famous for exposing - dear Lord - her BACK on a magazine cover (I don't know about you, everyone but I've never seen anyone's back before so I was very shocked by all that) and having her phone hacked to discover that, like many teenage girls, she hugs her friends (again I was very shocked by this because I have never hugged anyone; my life is so hard) and recently because she may not have the most fantastic sense of tact regarding racial issues. Which actually was quite shocking.
The point is, though, that Miley is the centre of a media maelstrom comparable to that which surrounds Britney Spears. In fact, South Park viewers may remember the Britney-centric episode last season in which, following Britney's sacrificial death at the hands of paparazzi, they turned on Miley Cyrus; it seemed a poignant note in a surprisingly sympathetic and genuinely sad episode when I watched it... Until the next day when the gossip blogs reported that the photographers that used to stalk Britney had begun following Miley, with only a minimal 'guard' left around the older starlet, when it just made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.
The media report on everything that Miley does: if she holds hands with a guy, she had better answer to the Concerned Press Of America as to what kind of example she thinks she's setting The Children and to the gossip blogs as to what kind of floozy she is ("oh my goodness, teenage girl's private photos contain evidence she may know young men, CALL THE MORALITY POLICE") and understandably, she probably finds all of this a bit upsetting or at the very least odd.
So, like a lot of popstars, she's written a song about it. There's been a lot of this in recent years, with everything from Jack White having a whinge about people talking to him in bars to Fergie saying she's not perfect and never claimed to be and then Britney crushing all previous efforts with the snarling tour-de-force that was 'Piece Of Me.' And now Miley's having a go; 'Fly On The Wall' could, at a slightly wonky face-value, be taken to be about a particularly possessive boyfriend but it doesn't take a genius or the (rather brilliant, if a bit 'DO YOU SEE???') video to suggest the idea that it might possibly be a tiny little bit directed at the media:
The good thing about all this, of course, is that 'Fly On The Wall' is a brilliant and terrifying romp through claustrophobic menace. It starts off INCREDIBLY LOUD, continues being INCREDIBLY LOUD and is possibly the first Disney-endorsed song to feature downtuned guitars. It rocks, it screams, it creeps up behind you and makes sudden loud noises.
The most extraordinary thing about it, in fact, is how insanely loud it is; the distorted guitars of the opening riff reappear at every turn, accompanied by unmelodic snarling; this is not what one classically expects from a Disney progeny. This is not even what one classically expects from a pop song. This is, y'know, kinda metal actually. Maybe eighties metal but still.
The verses, on the other hand, are pure pop; fun, cute retro girl group pop, gently catchy with spritely melodies and then- OH NO, IT'S THE CHORUS AGAIN. All the more sinister, of course, for the saccharine nature of the verses; this is an old pop trick but when it's done well, it still works like a dream.
And through it all, Miley sounds aggressive, girlish and terrifying; although her voice still sounds older than she is, she isn't pretending to be an adult here and the overall impression is of a very powerful little girl who will crush you like a bug.
It doesn't answer the issues of her fame, her over-exposure, the potential and past invasions of her privacy (and let's not forget this is all happening before she's even over the age of consent in the US) and it doesn't even really tell anyone to back off, much less say "bring it the heck on!" in the same way 'Piece Of Me' did. So in a sense it's meaningless, but when something's meaningless THIS LOUD and THIS FAST, with bits as joyously catchy as the "if you were my boy. Friend. I'd be true to you" bit from the second verse, then that doesn't honestly matter.
Download: Out now
CD Released: February 16th
(Hazel Robinson)
Comment number 1.
At 16th Feb 2009, katstevens wrote:Good review! I'm not sure about the chorus myself but you can't deny its catchiness...
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Comment number 2.
At 16th Feb 2009, Alice_the_goldfish_ wrote:'as joyously catchy as the "if you were my boy. Friend. I'd be true to you" bit from the second verse'
That's the best bit!
This song just makes me 'squee!' constantly.
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Comment number 3.
At 17th Feb 2009, glovecompartment wrote:i want to make a clever comment about hands and sustenance, but i guess its not quite fair.
i don't like the media, and the variety of seemingly uneducated parents who don't realise that there's far worse things out there then Miley Cyrus. And its their job to teach their children this. Not some poor (rich) young thing whose only sin was being pretty and malleable.
But as ever with a song like this, who wrote it? Miley. maybe. Someone else, probably. I suppose Miley could have had something to do with it, but after Britneys aforementioned song, the markenting dept. could have seen an opportunity to try and get some 'edge'.
sorry bout the rant, but tvs boring me and im trying to fill the hours.
review some frank turner too, he's the best singer song writer we have.
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Comment number 4.
At 17th Feb 2009, Daniel wrote:I also thought Britney's My Perogative was aimed at the media.
"Everybody's talking all this stuff about me, why don't they just let me be?"
Onto Miley though, I think she's great. Her performance on Ant and Dec (which was clearly live since she forgot some of the words) just goes to show how powerful her voice is. For a 16 year old, that's pretty amazing.
I'm glad she's sorta managed to shake off her cutsie cutsie Disney image. (Although what was the crack with all the teddies in 7 Things?)
I think this one's gunna have a very long career!
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Comment number 5.
At 17th Feb 2009, pinkparadox wrote:Awesome.
And I thought she did well on Ant n Dec, doesn't Madonna forget her own lyrics all the time?
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Comment number 6.
At 17th Feb 2009, Vicki wrote:I love this song! And I love that she forgot some of the words?! That's so sweet.
She has got a really good voice, she performed at "Switch Live" last October. Very surprised at how powerful her vocals were. She was a true performer, too - she totally owned that stage.
And Glove... Frank Turner's ace! :)
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Comment number 7.
At 17th Feb 2009, RedDevilsGal wrote:LOVE this song! and the vid's amazin too!
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Comment number 8.
At 1st Mar 2009, start_of_an_era wrote:Only trouble is, Miley couldn't get arrested in the UK as no-one knows who she is. So a song about how famous she is will probably be greeted with...a shrug.
The fact that it's rubbish doesn't help much either.
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