Miley Cyrus’ VMA Performance Of ‘Slide Away’ Has Us Shooketh

After swearing up and down that she was not performing, Miley Cyrus’ VMA performance of “Slide Away” deserves an actual standing ovation. It’s been an insane past few weeks for the She Is Coming songstress and with everything she is going through, and her recent shade at the MTV Video Music Awards–we’re surprised that she showed up and performed.

If you recall, earlier this summer the songstress said there was “No f**kin way ” she would be performing at the VMAs, but we guess she had a change of heart.

But let’s get into this performance and why it was so damn significant. “Slide Away” is Miley’s most recent single and it’s the first time she’s ever performed it. It’s said to be about her soon-to-be ex-husband, Liam Hemsworth. After a decade of dating but less than a year of marriage, the duo pulled the plug on their relationship. The Australian actor filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences. “Slide Away” seems to reference some of the issues that the pair were having.

In fact– these “Slide Away” lyrics seem to confirm that Miley and Liam were fighting over his partying ways. They read:

I want my house in the hills / Don’t want the whiskey and pills / I don’t give up easily, but I don’t think I’m down Once upon a time, it was made for us, woke up one day and it turned to dust / Baby, we were found, but now we’re lost / So it’s time to let it go.

Another part of the song references the fact that the former couple has seemingly outgrown each other. Miley croons, “Move on, we’re not 17 / I’m not who I used to be / You said that everything changed / You’re right, I’m grown now.”

Watch the performance for yourself below.

Miley is up for two nominations one for the Best Power Anthem and another for Song of Summer.