“Flowers” and the art of the response song

EPISODE 301

“Flowers” by Miley Cyrus is spending another week on top of the Billboard 100 – quite fitting for Valentine’s Day.

The disco-country track has gotten people talking for a few reasons, but most notably, Cyrus invokes Bruno Mars’ classic “When I Was Your Man” in both lyrical and melodic allusions. The connection between the two songs is not one of interpolation, but rather, Miley is responding to Bruno’s hit through her own words: making “Flowers” an answer song. 

This episode of Switched On Pop, we take a deeper look at “Flowers” and how it fits in the canon of response songs throughout history, from classics like “This Land is Your Land” to Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda.” 

Songs Discussed:

Miley Cyrus – Flowers

Kacey Musgraves – High Horse

Gloria Gaynor – I Will Survive

Dua Lipa – New Rules

Bruno Mars – When I Was Your Man

Ed Sheeran – Shape of You

TLC – No Scrubs

Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg – California Girls

JAY-Z, Alicia Keys – Empire State of Mind

Big Mama Thornton – Hound Dog

Rufus Thomas – Bear Cat

Hank Thompson – The Wild Side of Life

Kitty Wells – It Wasn’t God Who Made Honky Tonk Angels

Ray Charles – Hit the Road, Jack

Nina Simone – Come on Back Jack

The Chantels – Well, I Told You

UTFO – Roxanne, Roxanne

Roxanne Shanté – Roxanne’s Revenge

UTFO – The Real Roxanne

New Edition – Candy Girl

The Jackson 5 – ABC

Sir Mix-A-Lot – Baby Got Back

Nicki Minaj – Anaconda