Miley Cyrus drops a new track which fans believe is 'shading' Liam Hemsworth

Fans are convinced that Miley Cyrus's new song is a direct dig at her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth.

Miley is officially back and she's taking no prisoners with 'Flowers', the first single from her upcoming album Endless Summer Vacation.

After the track dropped on Friday (13 January), fans got to work dissecting the lyrics - and boy oh boy, did they find a lot.

For a little bit of background, 'Flowers' is all about embracing independence and happiness after a difficult breakup.

Fans are almost certain that the song is directed at Liam Hemsworth, firstly because she released it on his birthday - happy birthday, Liam!

The couple have a whole lot of history, spanning all the way back to 2009 when they met on the set of teen drama film The Last Song.

By 2012, when Miley was just 19 years old, the couple were engaged, but called it quits a year later, sparking Miley's unforgettable 'Wrecking Ball' era.

Miley and Liam made headlines again in 2016 when they officially got back together, finally tying the knot in December 2018 - only to call it quits again less than a year later.

With all that context in mind, let's take a look at some of these song lyrics, shall we?

'Flowers' opens with the lines:

"We were good, we were gold.

"Kind of dream that can't be sold.

"We were right 'til we weren't.

"Built a home and watched it burn."

Fans are convinced that this is a reference to Miley and Liam's home, which was one of the properties that burned down during the 2018 Woolsey fires in Southern California.

There are lots of little references to a past relationship in Miley's lyrics, but perhaps some of the most interesting lines can be found in the chorus.

If you've had a listen to the song already, you might have thought it sounded a little bit familiar.

That's because it appears to reference Bruno Mars's 2013 breakup song 'When I Was Your Man.'

If the lyrics aren't coming to you right away, here's a little reminder.

Miley Cyrus responding to Bruno Mars in her recent single ‘Flowers’ HER MIND pic.twitter.com/WP2YR0iVSc

— o (@BumpDrunk) January 13, 2023

The chorus of Bruno's song goes as follows:

"I should have bought you flowers and held your hand.

"Should have gave you all my hours while I had the chance.

"Take you to every party 'cos all you wanted to do was dance.

"Now my baby's dancing, but she's dancing with another man."

By contrast, here's the chorus to Miley's 'Flowers':

"I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand.

"Talk to myself for hours, yeah, say things you don't understand.

"I can take myself dancing, yeah, I can hold my own hand.

"Yeah, I can love me better than you can."

Almost uncanny, wouldn't you say?

It's not immediately clear why Miley would have chosen to use her chorus to respond to 'When I Was Your Man', but some fans have speculated that it was an important song in Miley and Liam's relationship, though this hasn't been confirmed.

Whatever - or whoever - Miley's song is about, one thing's for certain: it's an absolute banger.