Pop star Miley Cyrus has set social media ablaze with the release of her new single Flowers.
It’s a catchy tune, but what really got people talking is the fact that it is being seen as a ‘revenge track’ against her ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth.
As side-swipes go, it’s not exactly subtle.
The video and lyrics contain multiple references to the pair’s marriage and subsequent divorce.
To hammer home the point, Miley Cyrus released the single on her ex’s birthday.
Ouch.
Is revenge a dish best served cold and on an international stage?
Her fans seem to think so. She has been praised for the single’s ‘empowering’ message of self-love and for doing such a good job of embarrassing the man who wronged her.
Is revenge the great healer we’re led to believe it is?
Singers referencing their personal lives in their music is, of course, nothing new.
Artists mine their own lives and experiences and channel them into their music.
And to be honest, I’m not too worried about Liam Hemsworth.
It can’t be nice to have a chart-topping song out there in honour of what a bad husband you were, but I’m sure he’ll cope.
I’m just not sure that when it comes to matters of the heart, revenge is the great healer we are led to believe it is.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But can fury ever really be cathartic?
There are several sure-fire ways to shatter your partner’s heart into a thousand pieces – and infidelity is one of them.
Anybody who has experienced it will tell you the storm of feelings it provokes – confusion and anger, as well as grief for the death of the relationship you thought you had.
And as revenge for that particular crime goes, jaunty pop songs are pretty tame, all things considered.
It’s certainly more creative than hanging a banner across the Forth Bridge proclaiming what a cheating rat they are.
Swift action
For Miley, now she’s released the song and her fans have gone wild for it, the best thing she could do is take the well-earned cash and get writing her next hit without any mention of her ex.
The best revenge against those romantic partners who have caused you emotional hurt is to wipe them from your brain and leave no space in your heart for lingering feelings of resentment.
Taylor Swift (who has never held back when it comes to writing about old boyfriends in her music) has the right idea.
In one of her tracks, she sings: “I forgot that you existed. It isn’t love, it isn’t hate, it’s just indifference.”
When I was a teenager I was no stranger to overblown expressions of love and would react in a similarly explosive way if I felt I had been wronged.
And let me tell you, the ‘you hurt me so I’ll hurt you’ thing doesn’t work.
It’s exhausting and counterproductive and it keeps you in a state of perpetual discomfort for a relationship that belongs in the rear view mirror.
‘Don’t reference him again’
In recent years there have been a few occasions where I felt slighted or disrespected in my romantic endeavours.
It can be so tempting to react in kind, but for the sake of your own wellbeing, it’s best to resist such impulses.
Move on and life your best life. Not because you want to show them what they’re missing but because you deserve the sense of contentment that comes with leaving behind something that caused you pain.
That’s the message that Miley Cyrus is going for with her new song but I suspect her ex-husband might hear something different.
To him, the song is a sign that he is still on her mind.
The best revenge would be to dissuade him of that notion by never referencing him in her music again.
