Miley Cyrus has already talked about how one of the new bonus tracks on the just-released deluxe edition of her visual album Something Beautiful was written in honor of her dad, country star Billy Ray Cyrus.
But in an Instagram post on Friday morning (Sept. 19), just hours after the expanded LP dropped, Miley went deeper, explaining that the song was an attempt to heal a rift that had opened up between them. “This song was written as a peace offering for someone I had lost for a time but always loved. In my experience, forgiveness and freedom are one and the same,” she wrote of the soaring ballad featuring two of her dad’s favorite musicians.
“Thank you to Lindsey Buckingham & Mick Fleetwood for bringing magic to the music,” she added of her collaborators, former Fleetwood Mac bandmates guitarist Buckingham and drummer Fleetwood. “This song is for my dad.”
The post was accompanied by what appears to be a new video for the song, in which Cyrus wears a gauzy white headdress and matching diaphanous, flowing gown, as well as a black dress matched with a sparkling black mask. “Oh, I wanna be the one, I wanna be the one/ I wanna be the one, I wanna be the one/ Anywhere you run/ You know I’ll follow/ Anywhere you go, anywhere you go/ You know I’ll follow,” she sings on the track.
The following verse features emotionally raw lyrics about the difficulty of being a caretaker of your heart while wishing freedom for those you love. “Love is not a prison/ I’m not a guard, no/ So even when I’m holding you/ I won’t lock you up,” she sings. “You can come and go as you want/ Would you like to be lonely?/ Your word is all I want.”
Billy Ray has been hyping the song all week, writing on Tuesday (Sept. 16) that he “can’t wait for everyone to hear the whole song!!! It’s amazing!!!!!,” then adding on Friday morning, “Best birthday gift a dad could ever ask for. Thank you @MileyCyrus for ‘Secrets’… a song straight from your heart to mine. The memories we’ve made together mean the world to me, and seeing you soar with your music makes me prouder every single day. Having Lindsey Buckingham and Mick Fleetwood on this track is pure magic. Here’s some memories through the years with Miley… hope y’all enjoy this as much as I do.”
Speaking on Monica Lewinsky’s podcast in June, Cyrus said writing the song helped her resolve some long-running tensions between her and her father. “I wrote this song about my dad because I wanted him to tell me even though there were secrets, even though I didn’t really want to know,” she said. “I wanted to be the one he felt safe enough to tell me the things that were damning and damaging to the family. I wanted him to think that as a middle child, I’m old enough that I could take some of that.”
The deluxe edition of the album also features another new track, the majestic, jazzy 13-minute mind trip “Lockdown” featuring Talking Heads singer David Byrne.
Listen to “Secrets” below.