Lyrical Analysis: Miley Cyrus' "Can't Be Tamed"

In the typical pop progression of a Disney star, after Disney releases you from their glittery clutches of happy colors, song-and-dance numbers, and purity rings, it's expected that you immediately embark on a journey of sexual empowerment. No one teen plays this game better than the recently liberated Disney golden girl Miley Cyrus. Cyrus, born Destiny Hope Cyrus but more widely popularized as her alter ego Hannah Montana, has a new single out called "Can't Be Tamed." The song just might be called the modern sexual anthem for teenage girls who feel trapped by society, their own constructs of sexuality, and (rather ambiguously) those trying to "change" them. Like Miley I, too, rebel against oppression (imagined or otherwise).

Cyrus's dramatic career shift from playing the wacky blonde-bobbed pop star named after a state to her newest alter-ego, a sexual being, is a big change, to be sure. She is donning more risqué ensembles, seeming to channel wild animals, and singing about reclaiming her life and taking control of those who want to change her. She talks about this fact a lot in her newest song. In the video, we are given Miley as the rare exotic bird, Aves cyrus, trapped in an overly giant cage with bars wide enough to walk (or if you're Miley, to dance) through, that serves to sets her up visually as a rare, sought after, and highly trapped creature. (Side note: In Latin terms, Aves cyrus literally translates into Bird Cyrus. In the binomial nomenclature of birds, Aves is technically a Class distinction and not, as Miley's people would have you believe, a Genus. Ergo, Miley doesn't have a genus name. Ergo, it's laughably made up. And stupid. Moving on.)

Though the way in which Miley chooses to express her sexuality is a departure, her career follows in the footsteps of some great Disney predecessors. We have the pop icon Britney Spears, who in 2001 produced her masochistic (and awesome) "I'm a Slave 4 U," as well as Christina Aguilera's romp in 2002 as an underground dancer who needs a major shower, a dye job, and some clothes in her song "Dirrty" (double r her choice). To both prove their sexual mettle and shake off the last of that pesky Disney purity ring,  BritBrit and Xtina's both dabbled in progressively sexual lyrics, engaged in brief moments of lesbianism, and stripped down what was left of their clothes to become liberated beings. Now, with the powers that be off her back, it appears that Miley has already thrown the gauntlet to enter into the land of pop princess-hood and all that it entails. But young Miley, take note; at the very least: please remember to wear underwear.

Now let's look at the lyrics behind the tune in Miley Cyrus' "Can't Be Tamed."

 "Can't Be Tamed" 
For those who don't know me I can get a bit crazy
Have to get my way, 24 hours a day 'cause I'm hot like that
Every guy everywhere just gives me mad attention like I'm under inspection
I always get the 10s 'cause I'm built like that

Being Miley sounds hard. Firstly, you are conscious of the fact that sometimes you can get "crazy." That's tough to deal with for a lot of people, but here it sounds like a point of pride. Then you demand to get your way at all moments in the day, which means that not only are you crazy, but you might just be spoiled, too. And then "every guy everywhere" critically inspects you and won't leave you alone. So you're telling me that you're crazy, your emotions can range when you don't get your way, and you have the feeling like you're constantly being watched. I'm no doctor, but that has all the classic earmarks of a psychological disorder. Maybe it qualifies for undifferentiated schizophrenia? But webmd is so unreliable these days.

Secondly, you should serious consider the types of guys that are giving you mad attention and 10s 'cause you're "built like that." Are they over 18? Because I'm pretty sure that's illegal in, oh, just about every continental state. Maybe even Hawaii too. Also of importance, relating to others that it's not your fault you're so hot, you 're just "built like that." No really, don't hold back- tell me how you really feel about yourself. Humility is a virtue, Miles. Let's not go crazy here.

[Lyrics]
I go through guys like money flyin' out their hands, they try to change me but they realize they can't
And every tomorrow is a day I never planned, if you're gonna be my man, understand

Confusing metaphor. If one were to "go through guys like money flying out of their hands," that implies that they keep throwing you away quickly because you don't mean anything to them. Unless after they "realize they can't change" you, they become frustrated and throw you away, that would make sense. I'm not positive that this is exactly the feeling that you were meaning to evoke in the listener. I could be wrong.

Additionally (as Dan pointed out), it is highly doubtful that a pop superstar doesn't plan her day out. "Every tomorrow is a day I never planned" is a beautiful line, it really is. But you must have things you plan to do. It's 2010, blackberries were invented for a reason. So therefore I must infer that you are a very boring person. I once read a book that chronicled a boy named Milo's quest for perfection after he found a book in the library called "Be A Perfect Person in 3 Days." By the end of the book Mile was just sitting in an auditorium sipping iced tea and being perfect. And you know what? He was bored. (The boy's name was Milo Crinkley, eerily similar to Miley Cyrus. Just saying.) For instance, you have to eat food, right (unless they don't eat in the world of the famous?) There you go: breakfast. Instant plan. But seriously, don't you have interviews and stuff to go to? Good Morning America appearances? Red carpet events to try to conjure up some Robert Pattinson rumors? You must.

[Chorus]
I can't be tamed, I can't be saved, I can't be blamed,
I can't, can't, I can't be tamed, I can't be changed
I can't be saved, I can't be (can't be)
I can't be tamed

Following the song's chosen rhyme scheme, aka things that sound like "tamed/saved/changed," here are a few other things that Miley "can't be," but might have been under consideration for the chorus:

I can't be claimed: The song takes on a fiscal slant.
I can't be framed: She didn't do it! You can't frame her!
I can't be flamed: It's not nice to burn people. Anyway, human skin burns at 480 degrees. (Why am I not the first one to ever type that into Google?)
I can't be maimed: Yay! Immortality!
I can't be named: Or shouldn't be named at least, since the people that birthed you christened you with the name "Destiny Hope." Hippie.
I can't be shamed: This is clearly evidenced by the bird porn ensemble featured in the music video.
I can't be behaved: 'Cause she says the line, "she gets her way 'cause she's hot like that." Super not behaved, I agree.
I can't be engraved: 'Cause life can't be like Tiffany's.
I can't be enslaved: 'Cause slavery is illegal.
I can't be shaved: And deprive her of all those beautiful raven-like feathers?

Lyrics:
If there is a question about my intentions I'll tell ya, I'm not here to sell ya, or tell ya to get to hell
I'm like a puzzle but all of my pieces are jagged, If you can understand this we can make some magic
I'm on like that

If someone questions your true intentions and your response is to tell them to go to hell, then you are seriously going to raise an awful lot of questions. Or at the very least, miss out on a friend-making opportunity. As West Side Story teaches us, "just play it cool boy, real cool."

The jagged puzzle piece line doesn't intimate what you think it intimates. To me, it just sounds like you yourself can't come together as a whole person. Like how a puzzle can't be completed with a bunch of jagged pieces. If you're a puzzle and all of your pieces are jagged, then you're just a really bad puzzle. Following that train of thought, if you're a singer/dancer/entrepreneur (as your wikipedia page suggests) then you are implying that you are a really bad singer/dancer/entrepreneur. Hey, I didn't make the metaphor. You did.

You finish this little vignette of pop heaven with the statement that you're "on like that." On like... what? I missed a step. But now it's suddenly on. Which part? The sex? The feathery outfits? The dancing excursions through the National History Museum? I'm just going with what's being thrown at me here!!

I wanna fly I wanna drive I wanna go, I wanna be a part of something I don't know
And if you try to hold me back I might explode
Baby, by now you should know

Trust me, everyone knows. You're a misunderstood sexual being who seeks the thrill that comes from bucking societal norms and dressing like an animal. We get it. But you might be getting just a wee bit dramatic with the whole "I might explode" line. Spontaneous combustion is a serious illness. There have only been 200 unverified instances of probable Spontaneous Human Combustion worldwide in the past 300 years. You're not going to die, you're just feeling a bit oppressed. In the history of the world, Miley, you really do understand true oppression.

To finish, let's talk over the line "I want to be a part of something I don't know." Listen here, kid- life is tough. But it's a heck of a lot harder when you don't know what exactly it is that you want. Nobody really likes listening to stuff like that. Sure, we all might have had a Dashboard Confessional phase song when "Vindicated" or "Screaming Infidelities" came on and we maybe didn't shut it off. 16 times in a row. But as many a middle-schooler has quoted in their instant messenger profile, "stand for something or you'll fall for anything." Take heed. If you can't articulate what it is that you want from life maybe- and bear with me here because I'm shooting from the hip- *maybe* it's that you don't actually want anything? Or you're just a bit overtired? Or undersexed? Or both? You know what, forget I said anything. I could forgive you for most anything you release from 2007 on because that is when you gave me "See You Again." That is a song for our generation. "Can't Be Tamed"? I can let that slide.

[Chorus]
I can't be tamed, I can't be saved, I can't be blamed, I can't, can't
I can't be tamed, I can't be changed, I can't be saved, I can't be (can't be)
I can't be tamed

I'm not a trick you play, I ride a different way/ I'm not a mistake, I'm not a fake, it's set in my DNA
Don't change me (x4), (I can't be tamed)

Besides laughing over the "trick" line (lolololol tricks are played by hoes, Ms. Miley) this part is kind of blasé: it rhymes, it's ambiguous, it fits the voice of the song. Ho hum.

I wanna fly I wanna drive I wanna go
I wanna be a part of something I don’t know
And if you try to hold me back I might explode
Baby by now you should know

The [Chorus]. The end.

Looking at the positive and negative forms of the verb "can," the positive form appears twice while "can't" gets sung 35 times. That's pret-tee darn negative there, little Mopey Mabel.

But what can I say? She's just being Miley.**


**DP, enjoy the cop-out ending.