Miley Cyrus dropped Younger Now last night—an album she's said in interviews has quite a few songs about Liam Hemsworth (and one about Hillary Clinton) on it. But it appears at least one other person she's dated makes an appearance on the album: model Stella Maxwell, the last person Cyrus publicly dated before getting back together with Hemsworth.
"She's Not Him," the second to last track, seems to be about the moment Cyrus realized she was still in love with Hemsworth although she wanted to be fully committed to Maxwell. Cyrus is the sole writer on the song, and although a fictional relationship could've inspired it too, these lyrics are telling. Here, the lines via Genius, with Hemsworth and Maxwell references annotated. (Listen to the full track on Spotify.)
I want to start by saying thank you
I'm gonna miss ya, hunny
You gave me things, you can’t buy back with money
You changed my life
You've been my world
Maxwell was Cyrus's first public romance with another woman. Cyrus, who's openly pansexual, was photographed kissing Maxwell in July 2015.
There's no other girl that looks like ya, darling
Those eyes, that tongue, those teeth, that face, that body
Maxwell is a Victoria's Secret model with a signature smile:
She's obviously incredibly in shape for her job:
Even though we’ve gone to outer space
Still no way you can take his place
Chorus:
You're not him
She's not him
No matter what you say
No matter what you do
I just can't fall in love with you
Cyrus never wanted to put a label on her relationship with Maxwell, perhaps because she wasn't over Hemsworth. "‘I’m 22, I’m going on dates, but I change my style every two weeks, let alone who I’m with," she told ELLE UK when asked about Maxwell for its October 2015 issue.
"Stella’s awesome, but as soon as you hang out with someone, you get labelled as in a relationship. And I’m like, you can’t just assume that everyone I’m sitting at dinner with is a date. It’d be like we’re on a date right now."
"Then you break up and it’s everywhere. And it’s like, 'They’ve moved on,' but actually often it’s all good. Me and Liam are still so close and we love each other, and they make it like there is negativity." (At this point, Hemsworth and Cyrus weren't dating again, though it's telling how he immediately came up. Hemsworth and Cyrus started hanging out again and eventually, getting re-engaged, at the end of 2015)
Cuz you're not him
Yeah, she's not him
Verse 2:
And why, why can't I love you, baby?
Like I wanna love you, baby
I'm sorry
And maybe it’s beyond my control
Some sort of chemical reaction
Making it impossible to let him go
On reconciling with Hemsworth, Cyrus admitted to The Sun on Sunday newspaper that “I didn’t know [we’d get back together]. I’m so crazy, I have no idea. But I had something in my heart, it never felt like it was really over. We kept a great friendship really private. It’s good for people to have that space to grow individually. Otherwise when you’re with someone from 16 until 24, you grow into the same person.”
Chorus:
You’re not him
She's not him
No matter what you say
No matter what you do
I just can’t fall in love with you
Cuz you're not him
Yeah, she's not him
Bridge:
And you don't deserve all the bullshit I’ve put you through
You, you deserve a heart much bigger than one that's torn in two
Chorus:
You're not him
She's not him
Every time you walk through my door
I swear to God you're more beautiful than before, but you're not him
No matter what you say
No matter what you do
I just can't fall in love with you
You're not him
Yeah, she's not him
Listen to the full track on Spotify.
