Miley Cyrus’ “Party in the USA” may have become a staple on every 4th of July playlist since 2009, but the singer is reclaiming the patriotic hit to mean more than blind celebration.
At the iHeartRadio Festival in Las Vegas Saturday evening, Cyrus performed a number of her new and old songs. Just after playing “We Can’t Stop,” though, she addressed the crowd, Refinery29 reports, saying that she won’t stop “fighting for justice.”
“Everyone in this country and everyone around this world deserves that same respect and honor to be able to do what they love, love who they love, marry who they love,” she said.
“We can’t continue living as if this world is f-king disposable. It’s not, there’s one. There’s one of each of you and you’re all such f-king incredible, completely uniquely individual motherf-kers and I hope you never forget how f-king awesome you really are. You should never let anyone tell you anything f-king different.”
After her impassioned speech, she segued into “Party in the USA,” but not without a powerful disclaimer:
“It’s not a party in the USA if we don’t have equality, unity, justice, compassion, kindness, opportunity, healthcare, education, non-violence. So f-k yeah, it’ll be a ‘Party in the U.S.A.,’ we’ll see it. And if we all fucking come together we’ll fucking make sure that it is because I’m not giving up. We can’t stop.”
The song is that much more patriotic when it encourages resistance and fighting for our country to make it better.
Watch her performance below.
