"We Can't Stop" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus, from her fourth studio album Bangerz (2013). It was released on June 3, 2013, by RCA Records as the lead single from the album. The song was written and produced by Mike Will Made It, P-Nasty, and R. City, with additional songwriting provided by Cyrus, Doug E. Fresh, and Slick Rick. "We Can't Stop" is a pop, R&B and electropop song about a house party and recreational drug use.
The song received mixed reviews from music critics, who appreciated its overall production but were scathing toward its lyrical content. It peaked at number two on the Billboard Hot 100, thus tying with "Party in the U.S.A." (2009) as Cyrus's highest-charting single in the United States at the time. It was kept off the top spot by "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell and T.I. With varying success internationally, "We Can't Stop" reached the peak position in countries including New Zealand and the United Kingdom, and peaked moderately in several national record charts in Europe. The song is certified eight-times platinum in the United States, seven-times platinum in Australia and Norway, multi-platinum in Canada, Sweden, and the United Kingdom; and gold or higher in eight additional countries.
An accompanying music video for "We Can't Stop" was released on June 19, 2013. It received mixed reviews from critics, who were divided in their opinions regarding Cyrus's increasingly provocative image. With 10.7 million views in the first 24 hours of its release, the clip held the record for having the most views in that time-frame across Vevo platforms; after reaching 100 million views within 37 days, it also set the record for being the fastest music video to attain a Vevo certification. Both records were eventually broken by the music video for Cyrus's follow-up single "Wrecking Ball" in September 2013. "We Can't Stop" was additionally promoted with a highly controversial performance at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards.
Background
In 2010, Cyrus announced plans to focus on her film career, effectively putting her musical endeavors on hiatus. She later appeared in the films LOL and So Undercover. She was also confirmed as a primary voice actress in the feature film Hotel Transylvania, but dropped out of the project to coordinate a musical comeback. In January 2013, Cyrus ended her recording contract with Hollywood Records, under which she released the studio albums Meet Miley Cyrus (2007), Breakout (2008), Can't Be Tamed (2010), and the extended play (EP) The Time of Our Lives (2009), signing a recording contract with RCA Records. In March, she confirmed that her fourth studio album would be released by the end of 2013.
Production duo Rock City stated that "We Can't Stop" was originally written with singer Rihanna in mind before offering it to record producer Mike Will Made It, who ultimately offered it to Cyrus. They felt that "this could be somebody’s first single", and decided against Rihanna because of the commercial success of her track "Diamonds" in 2012. Cyrus commented that "it really just turned out to be perfect and exactly what I wanted, and exactly what I wanted my first sound to be, and my first look to be".
During the 2013 Billboard Music Awards on May 19, 2013, Cyrus announced that the track would be released on June 3. The cover artwork for "We Can't Stop" was unveiled in a billboard in Times Square on May 28. It shows the arms of two people holding Solo Cups, with several people in the background; Cyrus is notably absent from the image. Cyrus herself appeared on On Air with Ryan Seacrest on June 3 to premiere the track on the radio program, hosted by Ryan Seacrest.
Composition
"We Can't Stop" is a mid-tempo pop, R&B and electropop song. It is written in the key of E major with a tempo of 80 beats per minute in common time, and Cyrus' vocals span two octaves, from the low note of B2 to a high F5. The song follows the chord progression E–Gm–Cm–A (I–iii–vi–IV). The track also includes a sample of the track "La Di Da Di" by Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D. John Kennedy of Vibe compared the track to the works of Rihanna.
Cyrus has stated that "We Can't Stop" represents "where I'm at in my life now". Lyrically, the track describes a house party, as mentioned in the opening lines "It's our party, we can do what we want / It's our party, we can say what we want / It's our party, we can love who we want / We can kiss who we want / We can live how we want". It also makes several references to recreational drug use, including "dancing with molly", using a slang term for ecstasy, and "trying to get a line [of cocaine] in the bathroom".
Critical reception "We Can't Stop" received mixed reviews from music critics, who appreciated its overall production but were negative towards its lyrical content. Adam Carlson of Entertainment Weekly provided a favorable review, writing that the lyrics were questionable but "infectious", adding that it reminded him of "Kesha on Benadryl." Sam Lansky from Idolator noted that stands apart from other songs recently played on mainstream radio, adding that it "just feels strange, and kind of wonderful", while the Los Angeles Times Mikael Woods labeled it "the calmest, most clear-eyed rebel yell since Janet Jackson's "Control." Sean Daly of the Tampa Bay Times and The Wall Street Journal staff both appreciated the catchy melody, while Lyndsey Parker from Yahoo! Music felt that "We Can't Stop" acted as a sequel to Cyrus's earlier single "Party in the U.S.A.", with the difference that "she's just partying a little harder now."
However, in a more mixed review, Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times felt that the song "seems as if it were written by a ninth-grader imagining her rebellious college sister’s lifestyle" and felt that it lacked creativity within Cyrus's catalog. Writing for Rolling Stone, Jon Dolan was skeptical of Cyrus's increasingly provocative image, stating that the lyrics in the chorus would be "an odd fit for any singer" and opining that "there's still a bit too much Disney in her voice to fill the track." Naomi Zeichner of The Fader praised the song, writing, "Cyrus said in her recent MTV doc (Miley: The Movement), that she chose it to be her album's first single: 'Not everyone came to me and said okay, you've got the first single. I had to say no, I know this is it and I'll go to battle if I have to, against anyone who doesn't believe in it. Now I have this freedom to do whatever I want, because people trust me.' She was right about this one. The song's straightforward party is now tied to a sordid universe of visuals- the official video and the VMA performance." Common Sense Media gave the song two stars out of five saying that "After listening to the weird intro to "We Can't Stop" you'll kind of wish the song did just stop right there."
"We Can't Stop" won the award for "Choice Summer Song" and was nominated for "Choice Single: Female Artist" at the 2013 Teen Choice Awards in August. In December, Billboard critics listed it as the best song of 2013 for being "one of the bolder musical choices in recent memory, and that risk paid off tremendously." The Village Voices Pazz & Jop annual critics' poll ranked "We Can't Stop" at number nine on their poll to find the best music of 2013. Pitchfork Media ranked "We Can't Stop" at number 131 on the websites list of the 200 Best Tracks of the Decade So Far (2010-2014). Upon the release of "Flowers" (2023), Billboard staff ranked all Cyrus's lead singles and put "We Can't Stop" at first in which Jason Lipchutz wrote: "no other Cyrus lead single is as crucial to her career as 'We Can’t Stop'."
Commercial performance In the United States, "We Can't Stop" debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 with first-week sales of 214,000 downloads. In its seventh week on the chart the track reached number two, and remained at that peak for three weeks, but it was blocked off of number one by "Blurred Lines" by Robin Thicke. This peak allowed "We Can't Stop" to tie with "Party in the U.S.A." as Cyrus's highest-peaking single in the country at the time until she topped the Hot 100 with "Wrecking Ball". As of December 2014, the song has sold 3,280,000 copies in the United States. "We Can't Stop" peaked at number three on the Canadian Hot 100, and has been certified quadruple-platinum by Music Canada.
"We Can't Stop" experienced varying commercial success throughout Europe. In the United Kingdom, it debuted at the top of the UK Singles Chart on August 11, 2013 ― for the week ending date August 17, 2013 ― becoming her first top-ten success and number-one hit in Britain. She also became the first Disney star to top the charts in that country. It has since been certified double-platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). "We Can't Stop" peaked at number eight on the Ö3 Austria Top 40. It also peaked at numbers 11 and 20 on the Belgian Ultratop in Wallonia and Flanders, respectively. "We Can't Stop" charted at number 11 on the Danish Tracklisten, where it was also recognized with a platinum certification for streaming. The song charted at number three on the Norwegian VG-lista, and number five on both the Spanish Singles Chart and the Swedish Sverigetopplistan, number seven on the Irish Singles Chart, and number nine in the Czech Republic. The track also reached number ten on the Official Lebanese Top 20.
In other parts of the continent, "We Can't Stop" charted in the lower ends of national record charts. The track reached number 15 on the Official Finnish Chart, number 16 on the German GfK Entertainment chart, and number 19 in both Slovakia and on the Swiss Hitparade. It peaked at numbers 26, 33, and 48 on the French SNEP, Italian FIMI, and Dutch Single Top 100, respectively. In Oceania, "We Can't Stop" peaked at numbers four and one on the Australian ARIA Chart and the Official New Zealand Music Chart, respectively. It was certified 7× platinum in the former territory, and 4× platinum in the latter. In Asia, the song reached number seven on the Japan Hot 100 and number 29 on the South Korean Circle Digital Chart.
Music video
Summary
An accompanying music video for "We Can't Stop" was directed by Diane Martel, and was premiered through Vevo on June 19, 2013. The clip depicts an ongoing house party, where guests are engaging in numerous bizarre actions. Among the activities taking place are the creation of a mountain made of white bread, the kicking of a skull made of French fries, and the simulated slicing of a woman's fingers. Also seen are clips of the parametric 3D modeled human face created by Frederic Parke at the University of Utah in 1974. Product placement is also commonplace as Cyrus amplifies her Beats Pill speaker and applies her EOS lip balm. A director's cut of the music video was released on July 29, which Carl Williott of Idolator noted featured "more simulated sex, one oral sex gesture near the end and actually less Miley tongue overall."
Reception The clip received generally mixed reviews from critics, who were divided in their opinions regarding Cyrus's increasingly provocative image. Jeremy Cabalona from Mashable compared its concept to that of "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga, while James Montgomery of MTV News noted similarities to the music videos for "Dirrty" by Christina Aguilera and "Criminal" by Fiona Apple. Jason Lipshutz of Billboard provided a favorable review, calling it "fantastically unhinged and purposefully button-pushing", while Bonnie Fuller from The Huffington Post praised the "high-spirited celebration of the freedom that young women are blessed with today to fully explore and celebrate their sexuality." On their list of the ten best music videos of 2013, Rolling Stone placed "We Can't Stop" at number one, describing it as a "masterpiece for the ages".