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January: the month of recent beginnings, ditching booze, and…heartbreak? With many fuelled by the need for contemporary begins, twice as many break-ups occur in January than some other month, in line with a survey executed by Yahoo.
Pop stars are not any exception to heartbreak. Coincidentally (or not), January can also be the month for post-breakup hits. However relatively than soulful piano ballads (see: Adele’s Somebody like You, launched 24 January 2011) or lovelorn anthems (see: Olivia Rodrigo’s Drivers License, launched January 8, 2021), this yr’s post-breakup songs have a reigning theme: revenge.
Shakira: Bzrp Music Periods, Vol. 53
Shakira, famend singer, polyglot, philanthropist, and steadfast believer within the truthfulness of her hips, made a vicious return to the highest of the charts this month with a savage breakup observe about her ex-partner, Spanish soccer participant Gerard Piqué. The couple had been collectively for greater than a decade, and have two youngsters collectively.
Shortly after saying to the press that they had been splitting up, Spanish tabloids reported that 35-year-old Piqué was in a relationship with Clara Chia, a 23-year-old Spanish pupil learning public relations, who additionally works on the former footballer’s entertainment-production firm. (Shakira allegedly discovered that he was dishonest on her when she realised {that a} jar of her favorite strawberry jam, which Piqué and their youngsters dislike, had been eaten whereas she was away. The singer alluded to this within the music video for her single Te Felicito, the place she will be seen opening a fridge to be greeted by her collaborator Rauw Alejandro’s head.)
The revenge observe, a collaboration with the Argentinian producer and DJ Bizarrap, racked up greater than 63 million YouTube views inside 24 hours of its launch (it now has over 150 million views), breaking a file and making it essentially the most watched new Latin track within the platform’s historical past.
“Good luck with my so-called substitute”
Within the record-smashing anthem, Shakira didn’t pull any punches with cleverly crafted Spanish lyrics crammed with hidden nuances and euphemisms that comes as shut as doable to naming names with out really doing so.
Translations of the Spanish lyrics differ barely on-line, however a number of the most biting traces embrace “you left me with my mother-in-law as a neighbour / with the press on the door / and in debt with the federal government”; “I’m price two of twenty-two [year-olds] / you traded a Ferrari for a [Renault] Twingo / you traded a Rolex for a Casio”; “Good luck with my so-called substitute”.
Within the second verse, the Colombian singer makes issues much more pointed with the lyrics: “I solely make music, sorry if it splashes you.” Splash in Spanish interprets to “salpique”, and Shakira delivers it with a loaded pause, distinctly hinting at her ex’s title. The refrain, in the meantime, options the Spanish phrase “claramente”, a transparent reference to Clara Chia’s title.
Ouch. Following the observe’s launch, Piqué has pulled a number of social media stunts, together with sporting a Casio watch and giving the model a shoutout throughout a Twitch livestream occasion, and rolling as much as work in a Twingo automotive. (We wish to reference Shakira’s lyrics: “numerous time on the health club, however your mind wants a bit of work too” right here.)
In the meantime, following the information that her single had damaged Spotify streaming data, Shakira celebrated the track’s success on social media. Describing the track as “a catharsis and a strategy to let go”, she additionally devoted it “to all the ladies instructing me how you can make candy lemonade when life provides you these bitter lemons” in a separate put up.
Miley Cyrus: Flowers
A few days after Shakira dropped her reclamation banger, Miley Cyrus launched a breakup anthem of her personal, Flowers. (I did point out that January is the month of post-breakup hits, didn’t I?) Whereas Shakira’s observe is filled with pointed barbs, Cyrus determined to lean in the direction of subdued references.
Flowers is the singer’s first single in practically two years, and it’s additionally the primary off her upcoming eighth album Countless Summer season Trip, which is able to make its launch on March 10. The track tells the story of going by a breakup and realising that one can thrive on their very own outdoors of a relationship. Whereas the singer has but to substantiate that the track is directed at her ex-husband Liam Hemsworth, many followers have famous the hidden Easter eggs that harken again to Cyrus and Hemsworth’s previous relationship.
A fast recap: Cyrus and Hemsworth first met on the set of the romantic drama The Final Track in 2011. Their relationship then adopted a tumultuous Hollywood breakup-and-makeup journey. They had been first engaged from Could 2012 till September 2013, and after breaking off the engagement, they reunited in 2016 earlier than getting married in 2018. Lower than a yr later, they determined to go their separate methods, with their divorce finalising in 2020.
The primary clue that the track hints at their previous relationship is the discharge date: January 13, Hemsworth’s birthday. Whereas Cyrus dropped the only on January 12 in the USA, it was already the next day in Australia, Hemsworth’s residence nation. Coincidence? We expect not.
“I should buy myself flowers”
Except for its, ahem, coincidental launch date, the track opens with, “We had been good, we had been gold / Kinda dream that may’t be bought / We had been proper ’til we weren’t / Constructed a house and watched it burn”. The final line, specifically, is in reference to Cyrus and Hemsworth’s Malibu residence, which burned within the 2018 California wildfire. In a 2019 interview with journal Vainness Honest, Cyrus famous that the lack of her residence pushed her and Hemsworth to tie the knot.
The refrain, in the meantime, is a paraphrase of Bruno Mars’ 2013 single Once I Was Your Man, which Hemsworth allegedly devoted to Cyrus up to now (she had beforehand additionally posted a video dancing to the track on her wedding ceremony day).
In his 2013 hit, Mars sings, “I ought to have purchased you flowers / and held your hand / ought to have gave you all my hours after I had the prospect / take you to each occasion ’trigger all you needed to do was dance ”; in Flowers, Cyrus sings, “I should buy myself flowers / Write my title within the sand / Discuss to myself for hours…I can take myself dancing, and I can maintain my very own hand / Yeah, I can love me higher than you’ll be able to.”
Elements of the music video had been additionally filmed within the Los Angeles mansion the place Hemsworth was allegedly reported to have had an affair. Followers on social media have additionally speculate that Cyrus is dancing in the identical swimsuit that Hemsworth as soon as wore.
Revenge is a dish finest served loud
The pop star’s model of the top of a whirlwind romance – love, heartbreak, absolute banger – is a story as previous as time. Neither Shakira nor Cyrus are the primary to launch post-breakup revenge anthems – many male singers, together with John Meyer and Justin Timberlake, have launched tracks devoted to their ex-partners.
And but, neither Meyer nor Timberlake had been known as “petty” on the time of their respective single releases. Nor had been they accused of airing out their grievances in such a public method, or for shading their exes to monetise their love lives. Each Shakira and Cyrus, nevertheless, have been on the receiving finish of criticism by some on the web after the discharge of their songs.
A revenge observe towards an ex won’t be essentially the most smart path in the direction of feeling higher, however we typically are likely to neglect that celebrities are additionally people. Whereas we’d not all have a home in Hollywood Hills, a number of platinum hits, or hips that don’t lie (sadly, I, for one, was born with two left toes and nil stomach dancing expertise), I might think about that engaged on these breakup hits are as cathartic to the singers as you venting your frustrations in your journal or b*tching to your buddy a couple of horrible ex. Your life experiences of heartbreak, sorrow, and anger is, at its core, the identical as Shakira and Cyrus. The way wherein one particular person can damage one other doesn’t change resulting from geographic location or tax bracket.
On the finish of the day, in case you’re capable of flip your ache into artwork (or, in case you’re a pop star and may flip your ache right into a record-breaking hit), why not? As Shakira notes: “Ladies don’t cry anymore, they money in.”
As for the remainder of us non-musicians, let’s simply sit again, really feel the feels, and benefit from the bops.
Supply: Her World
