"Used to Be Young" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus. It was released as a single on August 25, 2023, through Columbia Records, after the broadcast of the ABC documentary concert special Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions) the day before, and appears on the digital reissue of Cyrus's eighth studio album Endless Summer Vacation (2023). The song was written by Cyrus alongside Aldae and Michael Pollack, with the singer, Pollack, and Shawn Everett handling production.
"Used to Be Young" debuted at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming Cyrus' 12th top ten song and her second one from Endless Summer Vacation, following "Flowers".
Background
Cyrus first teased the song and an upcoming release in her June 2023 cover story for British Vogue; she revealed its lyrics: "I know I used to be crazy / I know I used to be fun / You say I used to be wild / I say I used to be young". On August 15, 2023, Cyrus posted a clip to her social media of a street covered in posters of her, captioned with song lyrics of her past eras along with the lyric "I say I used to be young". These posters were spotted in various cities worldwide that day, including Brussels, Los Angeles, New York City, and Paris. The words "Used to Be Young" also appeared on all of her music video thumbnails on YouTube.
Cyrus announced the single along with the ABC documentary concert special, Endless Summer Vacation: Continued (Backyard Sessions) through a trailer on her social media on August 17. She revealed the song's cover art and release date—August 25, 2023, a day after the broadcast of the special, an updated and "reimagined" version of Endless Summer Vacation (Backyard Sessions) (2023). A limited edition 7-inch vinyl of the song was made available to pre-order, along with its pre-save on streaming platforms. In an accompanying statement, Cyrus said that "Used to Be Young" is dedicated to her "loyal fans" for "loving every version of [her]". She revealed that she chose to release the song on August 25, 2023, as it marked a decade since her controversial 2013 MTV VMAs performance, as well as the release of her single "Wrecking Ball" (2013) and its respective music video. The singer posted the entirety of the song's lyrics on August 22 to her social media. Cyrus revealed it was written in 2021 during the initial stages of development of her eighth studio album, Endless Summer Vacation (2023); she "[painted] a sonic picture of [her] perspective to share with [her fans]". The song is written in the key of E major.
Commercial performance "Used to Be Young" became Miley Cyrus's 12th top-ten song on the Billboard Hot 100, debuting at number eight with 25.9 million in airplay audience, 17.8 million streams and 19,000 downloads. It debuted at number 2 on the Digital Song Sales, number 9 on Streaming Songs and number 19 on Radio Songs. It also marked Cyrus's second song to appear in the top ten of the Hot 100 in 2023, following "Flowers".
Credits and personnel Credits adapted from YouTube. Miley Cyrus – vocals, songwriter, producer Michael Pollack – songwriter, producer, associated performer, celeste, keyboards, organ, piano, synthesizer Shawn Everett – producer, keyboards, synthesizer, engineer, mixing engineer, vocal engineer Gregory Aldae Hein – songwriter Pino Palladino – bass Delicate Steve – guitar Maxx Morando – drums, programmer, synthesizer Ian Gold – engineer Pièce Eatah – engineer, vocal engineer Chris Gehringer – mastering engineer
Charts
Weekly charts + Chart (2023–2024) Peakposition Croatia International Airplay (HRT) 8 Greece International (IFPI) 69 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 19 Israel (Media Forest) 12 Latvia (EHR) 33 Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20) 2 Lithuania (AGATA) 33 Panama (Monitor Latino) 16 Panama (PRODUCE) 45 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100) 7 Poland (Polish Streaming Top 100) 77 Russia Airplay (TopHit) 105 Singapore (RIAS) 29 Vietnam (Vietnam Hot 100) 61
Monthly charts + Chart (2023) Peakposition CIS (TopHit) 63
Year-end charts + Chart (2023) Position Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) 77 Estonia Airplay (TopHit) 21 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 93 Israel (Galgalatz) 17 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) 94 Poland (Polish Airplay Top 100) 81 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 32 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) 49 US Digital Song Sales (Billboard) 51 Chart (2024) Position Canada (Canadian Hot 100) 49 Estonia Airplay (TopHit) 103 Iceland (Tónlistinn) 71 US Adult Contemporary (Billboard) 15 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard) 10 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard) 22 US Radio Songs (Billboard) 26
Certifications
Release history + Release dates and formats for "Used to Be Young" Region Date Format(s) Label Various August 25, 2023 Columbia United States August 29, 2023 Contemporary hit radio Various October 13, 2023 7-inch vinyl Italy November 3, 2023 Radio airplay Sony
References