Used to Be Young

These lyrics were written almost 2 years ago at the beginning of my [Endless Summer Vacation]. It was at a time I felt misunderstood. I have [painted] a sonic picture of my perspective to share with you. The time has arrived to release a song that I could perfect forever. Although my work is done, this song will continue to write itself every day. The fact it remains unfinished is a part of its beauty. That is my life at this moment ... unfinished yet complete.

Cyrus first teased the song and an upcoming release in her June 2023 cover story for British Vogue; she revealed its lyrics: "I know I used to be crazy / I know I used to be fun / You say I used to be wild / I say I used to be young".^[5] On August 15, 2023, Cyrus posted a clip to her social media of a street covered in posters of her, captioned with song lyrics of her past eras along with the lyric "I say I used to be young".^[6] These posters were spotted in various cities worldwide that day, including Brussels, Los Angeles, New York City, and Paris.^[7][8][9] The words "Used to Be Young" also appeared on all of her music video thumbnails on YouTube.^[6][10]

Cyrus announced the single along with the ABC documentary concert special, Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions) through a trailer on her social media on August 17.^[11][12] She revealed the song's cover art and release date—August 25, 2023, a day after the broadcast of the special, an updated and "reimagined" version of Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions) (2023).^[13] A limited edition 7-inch vinyl of the song was made available to pre-order,^[14][15] along with its pre-save on streaming platforms.^[16] In an accompanying statement, Cyrus said that "Used to Be Young" is dedicated to her "loyal fans" for "loving every version of [her]".^[13] She revealed that she chose to release the song on August 25, 2023, as it marked a decade since her controversial 2013 MTV VMAs performance, as well as the release of her single "Wrecking Ball" (2013) and its respective music video.^[17][2] The singer posted the entirety of the song's lyrics on August 22 to her social media. Cyrus revealed it was written in 2021 during the initial stages of development of her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation (2023); she "[painted] a sonic picture of [her] perspective to share with [her fans]".^[4] The song is written in the key of E major.

"Used to Be Young" became Miley Cyrus's 12th top-ten song on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number eight with 25.9 million in airplay audience, 17.8 million streams and 19,000 downloads. It debuted at number 2 on the Digital Song Sales, number 9 on Streaming Songs and number 19 on Radio Songs. It also marked Cyrus's second song to appear in the top ten of the Hot 100 in 2023, following "Flowers".^[18]

Credits adapted from YouTube.^[19]

• Miley Cyrus – vocals, songwriter, producer
• Michael Pollack – songwriter, producer, associated performer, celeste, keyboards, organ, piano, synthesizer
• Shawn Everett – producer, keyboards, synthesizer, engineer, mixing engineer, vocal engineer
• Gregory Aldae Hein – songwriter
• Pino Palladino – bass
• Richard Windmann– guitar
• Maxx Morando – drums, programmer, synthesizer
• Ian Gold – engineer
• Pièce Eatah – engineer, vocal engineer
• Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer