In 2023, Miley Cyrus released the ultimate moving-on song — “Flowers.” The lyrics seem to draw inspiration from her past relationship and it became a smashing success, culminating with Cyrus winning several accolades and nods, including a nomination for Song of the Year at the 2024 Grammy Awards. Over a year and a half after its release, she is now finding herself in some legal trouble.
“Flowers” is believed to be inspired by her relationship with ex-husband Liam Hemsworth. Like many singer-songwriters before her, Cyrus used her relationship with The Witcher actor to inspire her writing process, and it holds several references to their romance. The single was released on Hemsworth’s birthday, and refers to their home in Malibu, California, which burned down in Nov. 2018 due to wildfire. Additionally, the song seems to be a response to Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” a song Liam Hemsworth reportedly dedicated to Cyrus in the past.
It’s this exact connection to Bruno Mars’ ballad that is getting Miley Cyrus in trouble, as she is getting sued for the “striking similarities” between Mars’ song and hers. But wait! You shouldn’t throw a grenade at Mars just yet, because he is not personally involved in the lawsuit. Instead, Tempo Music Investments, which owns a share of the copyright fot Mars’ 2013 song from his second album, Unorthodox Jukebox, wants a paycheck for it for absolutely no reason.
The chorus for “When I Was Your Man” includes the lyrics “That I should’ve bought you flowers/ And held your hand/ Shoulda gave you all my hours/ When I had the chance,” before pointing out that “All you wanted to do was dance.” In return, Cyrus’ “Flowers” answer all the claims in Mars’ song, “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.”
Back in January 2023, Billboard explained why Cyrus didn’t need to cite Bruno Mars or his co-writers, Andrew Wyatt, Philip Lawrence, and Ari Levine, in the writing credits on “Flowers.” It’s become a common thing for musicians to add writing credits for songs that sample or extrapolate musical similarities from other artists — remember Olivia Rodrigo’s drama for “Good 4 U” with Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro? — but, in this case, “Flowers” doesn’t sample “When I Was Your Man,” nor does it share melodic similarities. “Merely using some of the same words as an older song is not considered grounds for infringement,” the outlet pointed out.
However, Tempo Music Investments doesn’t see it this way, and filed a lawsuit on Sept. 16 in Los Angeles. Per People, which obtained the documents, the lawsuit reads, in part, “It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man.’” …Well, that’s stating the obvious. The doc adds that Cyrus “duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements” of Mars’ track. Cyrus’ co-writers, Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack, as well as Sony Music Publishing and Apple, are cited in the suit. Mars is not named in the filing. The suit further notes that “the opening vocal line from the chorus of ‘Flowers’ begins and ends on the same chords as the opening vocal line in the verse of ‘When I Was Your Man.'”
Cyrus hasn’t addressed the lawsuit so far, but fans are livid, especially as it comes a considerable time after Cyrus’s song’s release. The hit song broke multiple records, and spent eight weeks at the top of the U.S. Billboard charts, and it has become one of Miley’s staple songs. With all the positive reactions it received so far, what’s an unwanted lawsuit, if not a new opportunity to boost the song back up the charts?
Published: Sep 17, 2024 07:05 pm