After giving us “Prelude,” the door to an elevator opens and through a smoky sheen, Miley Cyrus emerges, the camera filming her from overhead (per the co-direction of Cyrus, Jacob Bixenman, Brendan Walter). It then pans down to reveal her feathery silhouette (courtesy of a dark green jacket that screams haute couture) in all its glory, in addition to showing the audience that she isn’t alone in the room, but accompanied by a band, also displayed in a shadowy, silhouetted manner.
As the sultry opening notes to “Something Beautiful” (not to be confused with Cyrus’ other beauty ode, “Beautiful That Way”) begin, Cyrus’ face is at last illuminated in a full close-up as she demands, “Tell me something beautiful tonight/Until your lips turn blue.” And yes, these days, not everyone would be up to the challenge that such a request would require, being that there’s fewer and fewer “beautiful” things to discuss (which ties into Cyrus’ other recently released track, “End of the World”).
The feathery jacket, which has a hood that Cyrus sports over her head (for an added Sesame Street character effect), remains the focal point of the visual as she starts to walk along the stage again for a more dynamic presentation. After all, there’s only so much one can do to a mid-tempo ballad (or rather, what the listener is made to think is a mid-tempo ballad for a time). Though, in Cyrus’ case, she does her best to “Prince it up” with her movements, which makes sense considering that she references one of his most famous songs via the line, “Watching the doves cry, into the sunrise.”
Perhaps at even the slightest allusion to Prince, sparks can’t help but fly from an overhead klieg light, almost as if reacting not only to the Purple One nod, but to Cyrus’ presence, and the things she’s saying. Like, “Boy, I’m losing my breath [Destiny’s Child knew all about that]/I’m undressing and I’m confessing that I’m so obsessed, yes.” It is during this particular verse, in fact, that the entire tenor of the song changes, erupting into a sweltering sort of rock anthem (taking Cyrus back to her Plastic Hearts era), the drums and ramped-up guitar rhythms growing heavier (courtesy of co-production from Jonathan Rado, Max Taylor-Sheppard, Maxx Morando, Michael Pollack, Shawn Everett and Cyrus) until the track reverts back to its calmer, softer side (though, by then, her feathery coat has already come off amid the “tussle” of the pace change).
So it is that Cyrus asks again, in a tone of languor, “Tell me something beautiful, yeah, about this world.” Her continued urging for the object of her affection to do this is an indication that, at present, nothing is more of a turn-on than optimism (a.k.a. willful denial). After all, the world is already fully stocked up on cynicism and apathy. And, clearly, the one she yearns for is able to deliver on the “rosy description” front, prompting Miley to say some very un-Miley things, including, “When I’m in your palm, I’m like a pearl/Tell me something I can hold onto, you’re who I belong to/I drown in devotion as deep as the ocean/So don’t let me go, no, no, no.” It’s a far cry from the sologamist sentiments of “I can take myself dancing/And I can hold my own hand/Yeah, I can love me better than you can.”
With “Something Beautiful,” however, it appears as though Cyrus has been turned on to the splendors and seductions of l’amour all over again (this likely due to her lately frequent musical collaborator, Maxx Morando), framing it as the only thing that can “light up the dark” (as in, “Flash, bang, spark/Lighting up the dark”). And the sparks of the klieg light do just that yet again as the sound of the song goes back to its moody, irascible guitar tone when she repeats the same verse about undressing and confessing.
But more than just sparks flying this time around, so, too, are pieces of the wall, crumbling from the weight of the rhythm and Cyrus’ vocals as she goes full cannibal with the lyrics, “Eat my heart, break my soul [this being in opposition to Beyoncé’s assertions], take my parts, let me go.” Just as long as you tell her something beautiful, goddammit, throughout that lusty process.
+ There are no comments
Add yours