As stated in the lawsuit, Miley Cyrus’ popular song “wouldn’t have been made” without the Bruno Mars track it’s being accused of copying.
Everyone knows Miley can “buy herself flowers,” but she might also need to get herself a lawyer soon.
The artist who brought us the hit ‘Wrecking Ball’ is now dealing with some legal issues concerning her chart-topping song ‘Flowers.’
She’s currently being sued, with allegations that her song takes too much inspiration from one of Bruno Mars’ hits.
However, Bruno Mars, whose full name is Peter Gene Hernandez, isn’t the one taking legal action against her.
The lawsuit was actually brought by Tempo Music Investments, a company that owns part of the copyright for Bruno Mars’ song ‘When I Was Your Man.’
When Miley, the 31-year-old former Hannah Montana star, dropped ‘Flowers’ in January last year, fans were quick to point out its similarities to Bruno Mars’ famous track.
It is widely believed that Cyrus’ song was inspired by her breakup with Australian actor Liam Hemsworth, who is known for playing Gale Hawthorne in The Hunger Games.
The two got married in 2018, but they filed for divorce just a year later.
According to TMZ, which reviewed the lawsuit, Tempo Music is accusing Miley’s ‘Flowers’ of “intentionally copying” Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man.’
The company claims that the melody, harmony, and chorus in ‘Flowers’ are “noticeably similar” to the verse in Mars’ song.
TMZ also mentions that the legal papers say: “It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man.'”
Tempo Music is now trying to prevent Miley from performing ‘Flowers’ at her upcoming concerts.
They are also aiming to stop her from distributing the song, which earned her a Grammy award.
According to Rolling Stone, which also reviewed the lawsuit, it claims, “Any fan of Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man’ knows that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ didn’t achieve all of that success on its own.”
“‘Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of ‘When I Was Your Man,’ including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions.”
To help understand the similarities better, here’s a comparison of the lyrics:
Mars’ chorus goes:
“I should have bought you flowers, and held your hand.
Should have gave you all my hours, when I had the chance.
Take you to every party ’cause all you wanted to do was dance.
Now my baby’s dancing, but she’s dancing with another man.”
Cyrus’ lyrics, on the other hand, are:
“I can buy myself flowers, write my name in the sand.
Talk to myself for hours, say things you don’t understand.
I can take myself dancing, and I can hold my own hand.
Yeah, I can love me better than you can.”
Up to now, neither Bruno Mars nor Miley Cyrus has made any public comments regarding the lawsuit.