Miley Cyrus And When We Were Young

Song Essay - Age

Both “Younger Now” by Miley Cyrus and “When we were young” by Adele present speaks who talks about age, especially youth. In the case of “Younger Now,” though, Cyrus actually feels younger, whereas in “When we were young,” Adele remembers being younger, not actually feeling younger. As a result, Cyrus’s “Younger Now” makes her sound like she is younger and is just becoming herself. Adele’s “When we were young” instead brings old memories from when she was younger, childhood and beginning of adulthood.

Cyrus’ usage of certain words about age, makes her literally sound like she has become younger, lost age. She quickly talks about herself in the song, using first person point of view to do this; “I feel so much younger now”
(Line 8). This shows that she feels, mentally and physically, younger, while being older. Also, the use of the word “now” conceals past memories of youth, while pointing to the present. Together, these points suggest Cyrus believes that she has become younger, through change, at the moment than she was before.

Instead of feeling younger now, Adele uses past memories to bring about the idea of age, especially youth, and childhood to adulthood.
“When we were young” (Line 13). This shows more than just herself, but also someone else, with the usage of “we”. Also, she uses both “when” and “were” that is past tense, that would imply memories. All together this quote shows that she is remembering a time when she and someone else were younger, but still being who they are now, in the
present.

Throughout life, people age and change, this is something that naturally happens, that has to happen. Cyrus portrays it as just that, “Change is a thing you can count on” (Line 7). Since she uses “you” instead of another word, this indicates she is talking about everyone, the readers, not just a few people or herself. Also, Cyrus uses “is,” that sounds more like a command, then something that might happen, a “to be” verb. Even more, the usage of the word, “change”, relates to her feeling younger, and that children change more than adults in life. In conjunction, this shows how everything must change, age or become something new.

Although becoming older to some people can be exciting, while for some people it is quite the opposite; “We were sad of getting old” (Line 16).
Adele again, like in paragraph two, is referring to more people than just herself with the word “we”. In addition to, past tense words suggest the past, not the present. So her usage of “were”, means that they may not be sad anymore about aging. Together this shows that Adele was sad, but has come to terms with the fact, that she is changing and becoming older.

Everybody changes in some way, from appearance to actions to mental. “No one stays the same” (Line 5). Cyrus’ choice of “no” shows that people can never remain the same, include herself. She also uses the word “stays”, where if someone were to stay in place, they would never move, or change. This also implies that Cyrus is changing, and becoming a new person or getting a new personality, since “no one” includes the entirety of people, with herself included.

While Cyrus’ “Younger Now” talks about age and change, and how she feels younger, Adele’s “When we were young”, uses some of the elements, but instead remembers her youth. As a result of these differences, Cyrus approaches as though she has become herself, or something new, and in turn feels different, younger, while Adele goes at it through her current self, and recalls youth, and past events throughout her
life.

Sources:

Cyrus, Miley. “Younger Now.”
Adele. “25.”