Miley Cyrus's full Younger Now album comes out Sept. 29, but in advance of the final release, Cyrus has released "Week Without You" as its own single on Spotify today. And while it could very well be about Liam Hemsworth the way "Malibu" was, this isn't a lovey track. It muses about the lure of the single life and the independence that comes with it—and what ultimately keeps her with Hemsworth despite this temptation.
Genius users note it could be inspired by the break that Cyrus and Hemsworth took when they split up in 2013 after becoming engaged. But some of the lyrics suggest the sentiment could be more recent. Here, the lines, via Genius, with possible Hemsworth references annotated. Cyrus is notably the only writer on this song, so while it's possible she's describing a fictional relationship, it's more probable that at least some of this is inspired by her own experience.
Verse 1:
If I spent a week without you
Bet you'd wonder what I do
I think that I’d start going out
Get caught kissing other dudes
When Cyrus and Hemsworth split up in 2013, Cyrus had a relatively active dating life: She was notably linked to Patrick Schwarzenegger for five months and also with Stella Maxwell at one point. She was spotted playfully kissing other people when rumors first sparked of her breakup with Schwarzenegger:
It seems you just wanna bring me down, down
With your bad attitude (bad attitude)
Cyrus talked about how when she and Hemsworth took a break, she felt held back. "I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard," she told Billboard in May 2017. "Suddenly you're like, 'I don't recognize you anymore.' We had to refall for each other."
Hemsworth himself echoed that sentiment a year before: "Of course it was hard, man," Hemsworth said of the breakup to GQ Australia in May 2016. "But at the time we were going in different directions and it's just what needed to happen. We were both super young and it was a good decision at the time—we both needed that."
When you know I'm not one to keep dealing with the shit
That you put me through
Chorus:
I know that I gave you my heart
But you stomped it to the ground
And that's what got me wondering what it’s like
To not have you around
Cyrus and Hemsworth initially started as a on-off couple who took several breaks when they were first dating (multiple in 2010).
But when they called off their engagement in 2013, that wandering thought ("what it's like to not have you around") led to Cyrus making the right decision for herself to end things—meaning even now, that gut feeling is important for her to listen to.
"Everything is happening for the right reason. I knew that when we weren’t together for the first time,” Cyrus told Sirius XM in May 2017. “I didn’t know if that was the end of it or know if we’d be back together again, but knew that wherever I was going, I was on the right path.”
These days, yes, Cyrus and Hemsworth are re-engaged. But they aren't getting married anytime soon, and a breakup isn't impossible. As Cyrus told the Sun on Sunday this month, “I don’t envision marriage. I’m 24. I hope to get to live a little bit more. I have too much living to do [before I get married]."
“Three years ago, if you’d asked me if I’d be here, this happy with this man, I’d have been stunned. I’m just riding this out. In some relationships, you lose yourself by being with someone else. Actually, it made me find myself more. I have no idea what the next three years will bring, but if it’s possible to get even happier, I’ll take it.”
Verse 2:
If I spent a week without you
I'd probably have so much fun, hm
First thing first I'd gather up all my girls, yeah
So we can lay out in the sun
It would be so nice not to worry
How I'd love not to stress
I'd go and grab my old blue jeans
I'm sick of wearing this silly dress
Cyrus told Cosmopolitan in its September 2017 issue that she hated her look during the period she initially dated Hemsworth; she and Hemsworth first dated from 2010 publicly (they also could've privately dated in 2009) to 2013.
"Pretty much 2008-2013 [are my least favorite red carpet looks]. The Grammys were rough and tough for me. Yoikes!" Cyrus said.
She told Harper's Bazaar in its August 2017 issue that at some points, she struggled reconciling what the industry wanted her to be versus who she really is. "It's no wonder that a lot of people lose their way and lose who they really are because they always have people telling them who to be." She admitted that personally, her years as a Disney Channel star deeply affected her. "There's so much I don't remember about being a child entertainer because it was so much to keep in my brain," she said. "It's like anything when you are in it. I didn't realize how much pressure I was under and how that shaped me until, like, this year."
These days, Cyrus said, "I just want people to see that this is who I am right now. I'm not saying I've never been myself. Who I was on the last record [Miley Cyrus & Her Dead Petz] was really who I am. It's just myself has been a lot of different people because I change a lot."
Chorus:
I know that I gave you my heart
But you stomped it to the ground
A reference to their previous breakups and the fact that Hemsworth has hurt Cyrus before.
And that's what got me wondering what it's like
To not have you around
Bridge:
You know I’d miss you, baby
Feels like I’ve known you since I was 7 years old
Cyrus and Hemsworth first met in 2009 while shooting The Last Song, eight years ago when Cyrus was just a teenager. Hemsworth was with Cyrus during a period she grew up and out of the Disney childhood spotlight.
You used to make me smile
But now you don't do that anymore
It feels like I’m always just crying and sleeping alone
Cyrus and Hemsworth are both well-employed entertainers, which means their work schedules can keep them apart. Hemsworth, earlier this summer, was shooting a movie in New York City, for example, while Cyrus was in L.A. (she's now doing The Voice). She posted an Instagram then about missing Hemworth:
Cyrus will likely go on tour for Younger Now too, meaning work will continue to separate them physically, and they'll have to cope with the long distance.
But when I think of you gone, I know
Chorus:
I know that I gave you my heart
But you stomped it to the ground
I don't want to wonder what it's like
To not have you around
To not have you around, to not have you around
To not have you around, to not have you around
You know I'd miss you, baby
You know I’d miss you, baby
You know I'd miss you, baby
(Know I'd miss you)
Cyrus makes clear in the last chorus of this song that her love of Hemsworth and her growth is what keeps her committed this time, even with the struggles. "I think people that break up and get back together, that’s awesome,” she told Sirius XM in May 2017 on the benefit of their kind of history. “You get time to be yourself. You get time to grow up. I think if you’re growing up attached to another person, you never really get solid as your own being. So I’m really solid, and then he gets to be really solid. And together we get to be two really grounded people. It’s not a half and a half making a whole.”
Listen to "Week Without You" on Spotify.
