Miley Finds Inspiration in Dream Pop Legends Cocteau Twins on “Let’s Get Married”

On the title track of Miley’s latest LP, Bass Persuades, the artist formerly known as Miley Cyrus finds escape in the thumping energy of dance music. But on the album’s dreamy track, “Let’s Get Married”, Miley discovers happiness in the idea of a forever partner. And perhaps the solitary days of buying herself flowers are over.

Heaven Or Las Vegas

“Let’s Get Married” features a musical departure for Miley. For inspiration, she looked to dream-pop legends Cocteau Twins and also the group’s musical descendants, Beach House.

Cocteau Twins helped pioneer dream pop in the 1980s and shoegaze in the following decade. The Scottish band was fronted by singer Elizabeth Fraser, who often expressed blissful emotions in phonetic fragments instead of literal words.

But here, Miley’s voice floats atop the ethereal track. There’s no need to decipher emotional gibberish. She’s falling hard for a man, and she wants to be his wife.

Godspeed, forever ahead.
Baby, don’t blink, keep staring at me instead.
What did I do to deserve you?
What did I do to deserve you?

Miley’s fiancé, Maxx Morando, co-produced the song. She recently discussed how they share a vision of genreless music. “With Maxx, I think he understands the blur that I like to live in when it comes to music,” she told People.

Let’s go get married tonight.
Let’s get married.
I’m having visions of white,
Let’s get married.

Forever Ahead

Perhaps that’s why Miley sounds effortless when she leaps from one genre to the next, even on the same album. “Let’s Get Married” feels nostalgic, but the lyrics describe Miley’s current chapter while also looking ahead to a future she’ll share.

It’s the other side of the lonely empowerment of “Flowers”, a song where you can still sense the weight of an ex as she tries to move on. And now, entering her first-name-only chapter, it seems she’s finally content to let go of the past.

Godspeed, forever ahead.
Ooh, until the long sleep,
I’ll turn your arms to my bed.
Then he said, “Baby, what did I do to deserve you?
Tell me, what did I do to deserve you?”

Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP via Getty Images