This Is The Song Miley Cyrus Should Record

Let's be clear. Miley Cyrus doesn't need my advice about anything - especially music choices. But this post is driven by a semi-drunken conversation I had with some friends earlier this week. We started talking about the crazy  commercial success of that Weezer cover of "Africa." It was a song choice suggested by a fan and despite the band's initial reluctance to take the idea seriously, they finally gave in and apparently recorded it somewhat as a joke. And the next thing you know, they might have recorded the biggest hit of their long career. The lesson might be that sometimes your fans can see things you might have missed. Sometimes a new set of eyes can make a difference.

Which got the group of us thinking about other bands and musicians. We started throwing out suggestions and I immediately brought up Miley Cyrus. She's certainly had her share of commercial success and she's turned a starring role on a teen TV show into hit albums, a thriving fashion line and an entire lifestyle built around her public image. But to be honest, like a lot of performers who grew up in the social media age, sometimes her persona seems to cast a shadow on her recording career. Cyrus has built this image of herself that works, but it can be easy to forget that when everything else is stripped away, she's an impressive and soulful singer.

And yet....

For all of the success her ballsy pop songs have brought her, I find my favorite Miley Cyrus performances are consistently her sporadic acoustic appearances. From her earliest days, Cyrus has doled out some really powerful acoustic performances, she'll still surprise fans with the occasional chances to see her music stripped down to just her and a guitar or two. And those are the times where I see the artist Cyrus is going to be when her reign as pop music queen inevitably fades a bit. Every musician ages and as they do, their true vision becomes clear. Removed from the need to crank out increasingly impressive hit tunes, performers will start recording music that speaks to their hearts, not the expectations of their fans.

I've never spoken to Miley Cyrus and won't claim to have any actual insight about her secret musical heart. But as a casual fan, I have a sense of the music I hope she'll gravitate towards in the future. Shorn of all the catchy beats and flashy performances, Cyrus has an expressive voice that is capable of moving from dismissive snark to sad reflection in just one line. More than anything, I'd like to think at some point Cyrus will inevitably move towards those subtle performances she was born to deliver.

All of this reflection about an older Miley Cyrus comes as the result of running across a song that at one point in my life was my favorite tune in the world. In 1972, 15 years before she had her string of radio hits, Bonnie Raitt recorded the bittersweet Eric Kaz and Libby Titus ballad "Love Has No Pride." It's one of those songs that sneaks up on you. It's nothing much more than a guitar and a voice. But Raitt delivers this heartbreaking performance that makes you feel as if she's opened up her heart and set it there right on top of the table for the world to see.

I've posted a quite live performance of the song below and if you're not familiar with the song, just lean back and listen. Imagine Cyrus's expressive delivery wrapped around a song this heartbreaking. She doesn't seem to be at the place in her life where she's comfortable being this vulnerable in her live performances. But she is certainly capable of giving Raitt a run for her money on this song and I hope this is where she'll end up a decade or so from now.

Until then....let's dance.