Miley Cyrus’s ‘End of the World’ Lyrics Teach Us to Party Through Dark Times

Miley Cyrus is on a roll with new music. With her ninth album, Something Beautiful, due on May 30, the pop star is wasting no time giving fans a taste of her next era. Days after dropping the “Prelude” and title track of her LP, Cyrus followed up with her next single, “End of the World.”

The anthemic bop is fitting for these dark times, as Cyrus sings about making the most of life, even as the world crumbles around us. “Let’s spend the dollars you’ve been saving on a Mercedes-Benz / And throw a party like McCartney with some help from my friends,” she says in the second verse.

Cyrus teased the song earlier this week, as she shared snippets on social media and a clip of the music video, which she co-directed with Jacob Bixenman and Brendan Walter. She explained in an Instagram post, “Reinforcing the project’s immersive, operatic approach, these songs mark the beginning of a carefully structured journey. Each release following the sequence of the album and the film.” As for the emerald green minidress Cyrus wears in the glowy visuals? That’s custom Mugler by Casey Cadwallader.

Fans noticed that Cyrus actually debuted this song—albeit, a stripped-down version of it—during an intimate performance at Chateau Marmont with friends and family last year. At the time, fans believed the ballad was about her mother, Tish Cyrus.

While Cyrus has yet to confirm the actual subject of the song, you can check out the full lyrics yourself below, courtesy of Genius.

Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, ohOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, ohToday you woke and you told me you wanted to cryThe sky was fallin’ like a comet on the Fourth of JulyBaby you’ve been thinkin’ ’bout the future like it’s already yoursShow me how you’d hold me if tomorrow wasn’t coming for sureLet’s pretend it’s not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, ohLet’s pretend it’s not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh-oh, ohLet’s spend the dollars you’ve been saving on a Mercedes-BenzAnd throw a party like McCartney with some help from my friendsYeah let’s go down to Malibu and watch the sun fade out once moreShow me how you’d hold me if tomorrow wasn’t coming for sureLet’s pretend it’s not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-ohLet's pretend that it's not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh (The sky is falling, falling like a comet now)(I can see it coming down)Oh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh (The sky is falling, falling like a comet now)Let’s go to Paris, I don’t care if we get lost in the scenePaint the city like Picasso would’ve done in his dreamsDo the things that we were way too terrified of before, woahI wanna take you to Nirvana, we can take it too farHit the bottom of the bottle and forget who we areHold me close you know tomorrow isn’t coming for sureLet's pretend that it's not the end of the worldLet's pretend that it's not the end of the worldLet's pretend that it's not the end of the worldLet's pretend, it's not the end (Let's pretend that it's not the end of the world)Let's pretend, it's not the end (The sky is falling, like the end of the world)Let's pretend, it's not the end, end, endOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-ohLet's pretend that it's not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-ohOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh (The sky is falling, falling like a comet now)Let's pretend that it's not the end of the worldOh-oh, oh-oh, oh-oh-oh, oh-oh (The sky is falling, falling like a comet now)Let's pretend that it's not the end (The sky is falling, falling like a comet now)

I can see it coming down