Nothing breaks like a heart, but nothing slaps quite as hard as a new single by Miley Cyrus either. Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson’s new single, “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart,” was released with an equally iconic music video last Thursday afternoon. The 26-year-old Disney Channel diva turned provocative pop star had yet to release any new music since her last album, Younger Now, that was dropped well over a year ago, but her latest track is surely something special for a variety of reasons.
The song itself gives off country vibes gone disco with its acoustic guitar riffs and Cyrus’s natural southern drawl. It’s a true western, folk-rock anthem and some might even argue that the song could parallel the style and influence of Cyrus’s godmother, Dolly Parton. Ronson and Cyrus co-wrote the tune together and in the chorus Cyrus belts the lyrics: “This broken silence, my thunder crashing in the dark / Crashing in the dark and this broken record, spinning in circles in the bars, spinning ’round in the bars / This road can’t hurt you, it cuts you deep and leaves a scar / Things fall apart, but nothing breaks like a heart, ooh / Nothing breaks like a heart, nothing breaks like a heart.” Those lyrics alone seem to hold a lot of meaning to Cyrus and to the world today.
Speaking of meaning, there is also a whole load of meaning behind the music video for “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart.” From the very beginning, Cyrus seems to be paying homage to her past. The video opens with Cyrus in a high-speed chase from the cops, where she appears on the television in a ‘breaking news’ segment labeled “Miley’s Wild Ride.” If you ever watched Cyrus’s wildly popular Disney Channel show “Hannah Montana,” you’ll surely remember the fictional character’s first tabloid cover that was labeled “Hannah’s Wild Ride.” Though the video itself was actually filmed in Ukraine, Cyrus’s Tennessee roots are highlighted by the Tennessee license plate on her getaway car. Also, hanging subtly in the helicopter that’s hot on Cyrus’s heels, there is a photo from her Mike WiLL Made-It “23” music video and even a small figurine of the singer on her unforgettable wrecking ball dangling from the rearview mirror of one of the cop cars. Cyrus brings viewers further into her past by driving her car through a strip club, which could be a reference to the 2009 Teen Choice Awards controversy that erupted after Cyrus was accused of dancing around a stripper pole during her performance. The final scene of the music video shows Cyrus standing with her arms spread wide on top of what looks to be six cement blocks, each possibly symbolizing one of her past eras, in front of her upturned vehicle.
Don’t be mistaken because the “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” music video is about much more than just Miley Cyrus’s controversial past and the reinvention of herself as a music artist. At one point in the video, Cyrus narrowly escapes the wrath of a bullet from a child’s gun at a shooting range. This could certainly be a direct reference to Cyrus’s support for the March for Our Lives campaign and advocacy for gun control. Additionally, there’s a scene that displays a line of football players kneeling on the side of the road as Cyrus speeds by. This could be a portrayal of Cyrus’s support for Colin Kaepernick and other NFL players who have taken a knee during the National Anthem in protest. There are plenty more hidden Easter eggs where those came from, but overall Miley Cyrus and Mark Ronson’s new music video is worth a few watches!