so there's this song on the radio I've been digging & it turns out.. IT'S MILEY!

srsly, this is my new jam. it's been in my head all week & I just found out who's behind it. So I guess I like Miley Cyrus now? O well.. I've stopped being surprised at such things.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5a4eUM0i4Tk

"Highest Quality"

er.. ya. a misnomer, that.

uh, I just looked up some info on this & discovered that it has been in heavy rotation since August? lol, so much for my breaking news. I'm going to listen to the radio more often & start keeping up on these cutting edge developments. it's still my jam, tho. You can't take that away from me!

it's a catchy tune, but it's weird to think that liking this might mean that you "like miley". i mean, i'm impressed by the songwriting and the production, but i don't think her performance is the key to its success.

James Montgomery got the mtv.com byline on this, but it was a collaborative effort between he and my friend April.

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Miley Cyrus And The Perfect Party (In The U.S.A.)
"If you have to talk about how hard you're partying, you're probably not doing it right, in Bigger Than the Sound."

By James Montgomery

Here's the thing about "Party in the U.S.A.," Miley Cyrus' plasticized ode to, well, partying in the USA: It is exceedingly patriotic, but it is not a great party song.

This has less to do with the tune itself — which is actually pretty good, thanks to Dr. Luke's whooshing production, Cyrus' salty-yet-sweet robo-vocals and the hyper-literal lyrics (Miley listens to Jay-Z and Britney, goes to a club and likes to wear a cardigan when she's flying cross-country) — than it does with its sentiment. That's because great party songs are never actually about partying. Shoot, the best ones never even mention it. They don't have to.

This is because talking about partying is completely antithetical to actually partying.

Think of every great party you've ever been to — the ones where you wake up with a fat lip and someone's undergarments on your head. Did you ever have to convince anyone who was there that it was, in fact, a great party? Did you ever have to utter the phrase "That was fun!" Of course not. Because, if you did, it wouldn't have been a great party and you wouldn't have ended up with underwear in your hair. The great ones leave no doubt in your mind — they don't require convincing and they don't need validation.

And the same logic also applies to great party songs — they must be organic, they must be chaotic, and they must come stumbling out of the cold, slurring and sidewinding and slurping (this is basically Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Got Your Money"). They're not eager to get a party started, because they know the best parties don't just start, they happen. They're not going to try to make you dance because, well, you should just want to dance. (Otherwise, why are you even at the party?) They are full of unspoken truths, sexy subtleties. They don't want to party with you — you want to party with them.

In other words, great party songs don't give a f--- about the actual party. And as soon as you pepper the chorus of your tune with the P-word — like Miley has done — you've violated this cardinal rule. You've forced the issue, you've stated the obvious and you've made the musical equivalent of a party at your parents' house, with mom and dad manning the keg. It's sad and it's just too eager.

And using the word "Party" in the title of your song is possibly the worst violation of all, because it makes the tune — as my editor April Richardson put it — "like the guy trying to start the wave." And who wants to party with him?

(Of course, there are some exceptions: super-pumped-about-life Andrew W.K. gets a lifetime pass, because flossing his teeth is a "party" to that guy. DMX's "Party Up" gets a pass because it's not really about partying ... well, unless your idea of "partying" is robbing banks, in which case you and DMX have a lot in common, according to the video. Ween's "Your Party" is OK because David Sanborn plays on it. Black Flag's "TV Party" gets by because it's a piss-take. Notorious B.I.G.'s "Party and Bullsh--" is party-approved because it has curse words in it. Party songs are not an exact science, after all.)

While untold thousands of Miley fans might disagree with me, basically you just know a good party song as soon as you hear it — you don't have to be told you're listening to one. The writers of the great ones already know this, and it's probably a good thing that 16-year-old Miley doesn't yet. She's got lots of time to work on her party presentation.

actually, I don't know if I "like miley" b/c I think this may be the only song of hers I've heard. But yeah, it's all about the beats, synths & gloss anyway. The vox are pretty strong, tho, imo.

I enjoy this song a lot. It's better than any of the other songs I've heard by her.

That MTV News article seems like it's arguing against the song just for the sake of arguing against it. They talk about some rap songs and Ween songs (ffs), which aren't even at least similar.

I'm on board with a lot of the points made, though. "[Great party songs] don't want to party with you — you want to party with them." Miley's song is sad and eager (and borderline annoying).

mtv piece is funny, but fails to grasp the fact that miley's song is not aimed at jaded party rockists with fucking criteria and shit. it works to the extent that it IS cheezy and fake. it's a bubblegum tune for god's sake. la la la la party all the time, or however that goes.

plus i imagine it goes over just fine at birthday parties

The girl overcomes her sadness though, for the chorus. Plus it doesn't sound sad.

xps

Not sad-distraught, sad-pathetic.

Perhaps I'm coming from a bad place here. My niece is full-on 100% Hannah Montana fanatical and I have to watch four straight hours of it every time I babysit.

Yes! Birthday parties, weddings, pool parties...pretty much any time.

~ noddin’ my head like yeah, moving my hips like yeah ~

~ shakin' my head like no ~

But it's not really about parties - it's more about radio and shared experience than parties. And is that Miley who is supposed to be the character? Like, she comes from Nashville to L.A. the first time and she's the odd one out or something? Or just some girl.

But that girl in the song, she's the annoying one who comes into the room at a party and hears a song she really likes and she instantly starts going, "Whoooooooooo!' and lifting her hands in the air and generally being so unselfconscious as to be annoying. Like, I don't hear my favorite songs and suddenly stop existing and forget all my troubles. All those girls who do that are generally drunk already, anyway, and that can't be Miley because she's only fifteen.

"Whoooo!" That girl. I can't stand that girl. I like people who can let go and dance, but not that one so much. Please have an existential crisis some day, girl.

Anyway, I still like the song, but I've gotta curb my intake.

in my experience calling a girl annoying is guy for "im gonna try and fuck that chick". its an instant break up in my book.

-- sunny successor, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 1:47 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Despite my professed love for this song, the last thing I've thought to do is analyze, or even pay any real attention to, the lyrics. Nothing wrong with doing so, obv, but when it comes to confectionary radio pop (& also in many other cases) the only time I pay particular mind to lyrics is when they consist of something repetitively obnoxious or otherwise offensive to the senses. She could be singing about skunks and jellybeans & I'd still be noddin' my head like yeah.

I consume songs like this the way I used to consume breakfast cereal when I was a kid: wantonly binging on one thing for a few weeks until I am totally sick of it & then moving on the next. Some such songs come back around & gain permanent status ("Since U Been Gone" being probably the best semi-recent example of this) & others fade from memory entirely.

xp - Eh, that's not annoying-hot, just annoying. Annoying-hot for me is, like, smart beautiful woman talks too much without necessarily sparkling voice and is very opinionated and tends to interrupt. Dresses fashionably and seems unattainable, and maybe a make-out slut (for anyone but you).

If I understand the lyrics without having to pay too much attention, I inevitably think about them. For instance, today I watched "Empire State of Mind" and felt a little repulsed by the big city-style provincialism espoused there, and thought about how oppressive it all looked in the video. Plus, the "empire" part: always empire-building, always some well-put hackneyed shit you have to always put aside listening to a lot of commercial rap.

But Alicia Keys' ass looked good, and the song is otherwise really good.

in my experience calling a girl annoying is guy for "im gonna try and fuck that chick". its an instant break up in my book.

-- sunny successor, Wednesday, March 5, 2008 1:47 PM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Fallacious appeal to authority.

I have friends who I ride around with and they somehow know the stories being told in every song that comes on, and I'll be impressed at how well they've paid attention to the lyrics. If people in their cars or at work are paying attention, it seems like fair game for me to pay attention too. Not that anyone is paying attention.

I like this song a lot and was bummed when Miley recently tried to distance herself from it.

That was a big turn off for me that she said that stuff! I can't always separate the singer from the song.

yeah this is a really good song.

If I understand the lyrics without having to pay too much attention, I inevitably think about them. - yeah, the tendency of mine that I describe upthread applies to when I am listening, yes, but also driving or working (but that constitutes about 75% of my overall listening time, tbh). It is also during those instances that I would be most likely to be listening to the radio & happening across tracks like this. If listening isn't incidental to something else occupying my attention, tho, yes, I agree that it is inevitable that you are going to start paying attention to lyrics to at least some degree.

Can we all agree that we need more pah-tees in the U.S.A.?

You might check out "See You Again".

this song's kind of a mess and miley's done much better - "fly on the wall" and "the climb" are both dope songs

this song's mise en abyme of USA pop monoculture and its consumption is sort of dizzying and probably brilliant but I fucking can't stand it

like, with Alex in NYC levels of can't stand it murderous rage

yeah seriously fuck this song

congratulations you are now an american

"doin muh shit like yeah"
This is what I sing over whatever she's singing.

Her vocals are not quite equal to J.Lo levels of nails-on-chalkboardness, but closer than anyone else on the radio right now.

I think I would like this if it was anyone other than Miley singing it. Her voice just grates, the "and a britney song was OOOOHHHOOONNNN" and "YEEEEAHAAHHHAHH" bits make me feel like poking my eyeballs out. She *can* sing a bit but she totally overestimates her own ability.

i mean that about the mise en abyme btw, just can't think it all the way through due to murderous rage

I'm really happy Jennifer Lopez disappeared.

I like this song a lot and was bummed when Miley recently tried to distance herself from it.

― Nuyorican oatmeal (jaymc), Wednesday, December 2, 2009 7:05 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I pretty much despise her after that whole "I don't even listen to pop music"/"I needed a song to promote my clothing line" interview, like jesus, if you have that much contempt for your own records stop making them you asshole, go focus on acting or be a fucking banker or something, we're the ones that have to actually hear this stuff on a daily basis.

hmmmm

"This is all so crazy!" with such deliberate, un-crazy phrasing reminds me of Wilson Phillips singing "Impulsive." But after that it won me over.

You might check out "See You Again".

Yeah, I like both, but "See You Again" is better.

I think I would like this if it was anyone other than Miley singing it. Her voice just grates, the "and a britney song was OOOOHHHOOONNNN" and "YEEEEAHAAHHHAHH" bits make me feel like poking my eyeballs out. She *can* sing a bit but she totally overestimates her own ability.

― Roz, Friday, December 4, 2009 12:09 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark