The People (and Animals) Miley Cyrus's Songs Are About

"The Floyd Song (Sunrise)" was inspired by the 2014 passing of her dog, Floyd. Miley's dog died while she was on her Bangerz world tour and she paid tribute to him during the remaining shows by having a giant inflatable dog appear on stage with her.

Miley famously dated Nick Jonas in 2006 and wrote "7 Things" after their breakup. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest in 2008, she revealed her intention was to sound angry. "The word 'hate' could describe how angry I am. [It goes] through all the different stages of what's been going on the past couple years. It was like a little therapy moment for me." While Miley never actually said the song was about Nick, video director Brett Ratner seemingly confirmed that it was, telling MTV News, "The necklace she's wearing in the video is the necklace he gave her. She's wearing his diabetes or medical necklace." In the video, Miley is shown wearing Nick's diabetes dog tag necklace.

Miley revealed that "Full Circle" is also about her ex, Nick, during a concert in Portugal in 2010. "It's about two people. They're always gonna come back together no matter what anyone says, the bad people that try to keep you apart. It's a personal story," she told the crowd. "Surprise, surprise, it's about a Jonas brother . . . You didn't hear that."

The "Twinkle Song" was inspired by the death of one of her friend's cats. The cat reportedly came to Miley in a dream the night it died and helped her find the right words to comfort her friend. Miley broke down in tears when she performed the song on Saturday Night Live in 2015.

"My Heart Beats For Love" is an homage to Miley's gay best friend and all of her gay fans. "I wrote this for mostly all my gay fans or for anyone who has ever felt discriminated against or judged," she said during one of her concerts in 2010.

Miley told NPR in September 2017 that she wrote "Miss You So Much" for "one of my really close friends whose boyfriend surprisingly OD'ed." "I wrote that song about how once someone's gone, they're not really gone; if you love them, they're here," she said. "You know, my grandma's in her 80s, and I had been hanging out with her the day I was going to record that song. And it made me kind of think about her, the more I started singing it. I started thinking about, 'How can I miss you already?'"

While Miley has yet to reveal who "She's Not Him" is about, the song seems to be about her brief relationship with Victoria's Secret Angel Stella Maxwell. The two had a low-key romance in the Summer of 2015, just a few months before Miley reconciled with Liam, and in the track, Miley talks about leaving her other half because she doesn't fill the void that her ex left behind, despite her lover's perfect qualities.

Miley wrote "Inspired" with Hillary in mind. In an interview with Billboard in April 2017, Miley called the track "my Hillary Clinton song." "I wrote it actually maybe a week before I went and campaigned for her, and she sent me a letter about it," she exaplined. "Cause I sent it to her the day after the election, I said, 'I wrote this song for you, and the reason I thought you would like it is because I always imagined you with your dad, when I wrote about me and my dad playing in the creek.' Because, you remember when at all the debates she would bring up her dad? Her dad obviously played a very impactful part in her life, and my dad played one in mine."

"Drive" was inspired by the difficulties in Miley's relationship with Liam Hemsworth and appeared on her 2013 album Bangerz. "I wrote it while I was working on Valentine's Day — emotionally it was such a hard time. It is about needing to leave someone but not really wanting to completely cut yourself off from the relationship. It's a time when you want to leave but you can't. It's also about moving on," she told Fashion magazine. Miley and Liam ended up calling off their engagement in September of that year.

Another hit widely speculated to be about Liam was "Wrecking Ball," also from the Bangerz album. While Miley never publicly addressed the claims, it was revealed that she didn't have any part in writing the song.

Miley talked about her decision to write "Malibu" about Liam in an interview with Billboard in May. "They're going to talk about me if I come out of a restaurant with Liam. So why not put the power back in my relationship and say, 'This is how I feel?'" she said. Miley also explained the deeper meaning behind the lyrics, telling Carson Daly, "It's definitely about love. If that's how it is, that's what it is, but it's saying, 'You brought me here and I'm happy that you did.' Next, 'cuz now I'm as free as birds catchin' the wind.'"

The inspiration behind this ballad also seems to be Liam. Even though Miley hasn't confirmed that the track is about him, the singer appears to reference their relationship when she sings, "I have your heart / I don't even need a ring" and "Like the grass / I've watched us grow / I've heard you reap only what you'll sow."