Dolly Parton Says Miley Cyrus’ ‘Used to Be Young’ Should’ve Been Her Song

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus Lester Cohen/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

Dolly Parton may love her goddaughter Miley Cyrus — but she wasn’t so fond of one song she chose to record.

During a November interview with Harper’s Bazaar, Cyrus, 32, admitted that Parton, 78, was skeptical of her 2023 song “Used to Be Young.”

Cyrus explained: “She goes, ‘I don’t know if I like that new ‘Used to Be Young’ song because it’s not fair that you’re singing about not being young when you’re young and beautiful. And here I am — I’m like 80 — and I’m like, That should have been my song!’”

It seems Cyrus would’ve considered giving the “personal” song to the legendary singer as she confessed she somewhat regrets recording it.

“I actually listened to that song yesterday, and I was asking myself, ‘Did I really need to put this out?’ It was one of those things that maybe now that I’m a bit more private, I would’ve kept private, but I’m happy to have shared it,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “It just feels like a song that’s so personal that it’s hard for people to relate.”

The song’s lyrics read, in part: “I know I used to be crazy / I know I used to be fun / You say I used to be wild / I say I used to be young / You tell me time has done changed me / That’s fine, I’ve had a good run / I know I used to be crazy / That’s ’cause I used to be young.”

Cyrus has lived a lot of life in her 32 years, considering she’s been in the Hollywood spotlight since she was a kid. She was 13 when Hannah Montana premiered in 2006, transitioned into a pop star by 2009, and went through a public relationship-turned-divorce with longtime love Liam Hemsworth in 2019.

Dolly Parton and Miley Cyrus Emma McIntyre/Getty Images for The Recording Academy

In a May 2023 interview with British Vogue, Cyrus opened up about the criticism she faced during her adolescent years as she transitioned from a child star into a young adult. She addressed some of the provocative career moments from her early 20s, like twerking onstage at the 2013 MTV Music Video Awards and licking a hammer during the “Wrecking Ball” music video.

“I’m actually not an attention-seeking person, sitting here as a 30-year-old grown woman,” she told the outlet. “I was creating attention for myself because I was dividing myself from a character I had played. Anyone, when you’re 20 or 21, you have more to prove: ‘I’m not my parents. I am who I am.’”

She added that after being “harshly judged as a child by adults,” she can safely say that “now, as an adult, I realize I would never harshly judge a child.”

As she ages, Cyrus has come to realize that it’s OK to make mistakes and try new things.

“I actually live for it,” she told Harper’s Bazaar. “It’s yin and yang. It’s like, you really can’t have one without the other. It’s heaven and hell; it’s dark and light. It’s everything.”

That attitude rings true in her upcoming studio album Something Beautiful, which she deemed “an attempt to medicate somewhat of a sick culture through music.”

“I would like to be a human psychedelic for people,” the Grammy winner continued. “I don’t want anyone trying to be like me or imitate me or even be inspired by me. I want to impact frequencies in your body that make you vibrate at a different level.”

She also admitted that she wants to try to tackle her career in the same way Parton does — by not oversharing too much of her inner world.

“She lets everyone in and no one in at the same time,” Cyrus said of Parton. “Everyone feels like they know her, but they’re also okay with the fact that they don’t see her without makeup, without the full drag.”