“Malibu” is about Miley getting back together with her fiancé Liam Hemsworth after their breakup in 2013. In a May 3, 2017 interview with Billboard, Miley spoke about the breakup:
I needed to change so much. And changing with someone else not changing like that is too hard. Suddenly you’re like, ‘I...
[Verse 1]
I never came to the beach or stood by the ocean
I never sat by the shore under the sun with my feet in the sand
But you brought me here and I'm happy that you did
'Cause now I'm as free as birds catchin' the wind
I always thought I would sink, so I never swam
I never went boatin', don't get how they are floatin'
And sometimes I get so scared of what I can't understand
[Chorus]
But here I am, next to you
The sky's more blue in Malibu
Next to you in Malibu
Next to you (Baby)
[Verse 2]
We watched the sun go down as we were walkin'
I'd spend the rest of my life just standing here talkin'
You would explain the current as I just smile
Hoping that you'll stay the same and nothing will change
And it'll be us just for a while, do they even exist?
That's when I make a wish to swim away with the fish
'Cause it's supposed to be this hot all summer long
I never would've believed you if three years ago you told me
I'd be here writing this song
[Chorus]
But here I am, next to you
The sky's so blue in Malibu
Next to you in Malibu
Next to you (Baby)
[Bridge]
Ah, ah
Ah, ah, ah
[Chorus]
Next to you
The sky's so blue in Malibu (Baby)
Next to you (Oh, oh)
[Outro]
We are just like the waves that flow back and forth
Sometimes I feel like I'm drowning and you're there to save me
And I wanna thank you with all of my heart
It's a brand new start, a dream come true in Malibu
Malibu was written by Oren Yoel & Miley Cyrus.
Malibu was produced by Oren Yoel.
Miley Cyrus released Malibu on Thu May 11 2017.
Miley announced her comeback through Twitter on May 3rd, 2017, saying she’d be on Billboard magazine to talk about her new style, perspective on life, and current music.
During her Billboard interview, Miley said she was consciously moving away from the hip-hop sounds she explored on her 2013 album Bangerz and her subsequent slew of hip-hop features:
I can’t listen to that anymore. That’s what pushed me out of the hip-hop scene a little. It was too much ‘Lamborghin...
Malibu, CA is a surfing town north of Los Angeles, CA. Miley and fiancé Liam Hemsworth own a $2.5 million dollar house in the city limits, and it’s also where Miley’s Billboard cover story interview took place.
Malibu debuted on Billboard Hot 100 at #64 after 2 days of sales and streaming. The song soared to #10 in its second week. The song marks Miley’s ninth Hot 100 top 10 and first since “Wrecking Ball,” which became her first No. 1 in 2013.
On the Zach Sang Show, Miley said she wrote “Malibu” in June of 2016.
In a 2020 Joe Rogan interview, she said:
“I wrote that in the back of the car on the way to […] The Voice because I was looking outside the window in the car thinking like all of it’s true. Like, I had never really gone to the b...
It was really important that the video be as intimate as the record was in itself.
–via TikTok (September, 2023)