Miley Cyrus Reveals Why "Can't Be Tamed" Is Her Favorite Song She's Recorded

Way back in 2010, Miley Cyrus was ready to reintroduce herself to the world as her most authentic self. In a recent interview on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show: At Home Edition, Cyrus shared that "Can't Be Tamed" is her favorite song from her older albums. The "Mother's Daughter" singer wasn't quite 18 when the song was released, but it was a clear declaration of independence from her Disney persona of Hannah Montana. And while it may seem like an odd choice for a personal favorite from her greatest hits, she explained to Fallon that it's all about what the song represents for her as an artist.

"My first song 'Can’t Be Tamed' is like 'I wanna fly, I wanna drive, I wanna go,' and you know that I still really relate to songs like that," Cyrus told Fallon. "I want to be a part of something that I don’t know and if you try to hold me back I'm bound to explode, by now you should know that I can't be tamed."

The singer went on to explain that she was "warning" her fans about who she truly is in the lyrics of that song. And she definitely isn't Hannah Montana. "I was already telling ya'll that something was about to happen, that I wasn't Hannah Montana," Cyrus said.

Cyrus went on to make bolder moves that established her as a daring artist, including the 2013 debut of "We Can't Stop" and the risqué music video for "Wrecking Ball." But looking back, "Can't Be Tamed" truly was the first time she was allowed to fully drop her Disney persona and come into her own as a young adult. The song isn't as complex as some of her more modern hits, but it's easy to see why it means so much to the 27-year-old.

Interestingly, it was a lack of new music that led to her reflecting on her older songs in the first place. "I was on my way to Australia to do a show for bushfire relief and I don't have new music out so I really dug into the archives," Cyrus told Fallon, adding that revisiting "Can't Be Tamed" made her realize that she always had an edge. "I started singing like '7 Things' and 'See You Again' and 'Who Owns My Heart' and 'Can't Be Tamed' and then I realized that the idea that I've changed is really far off."

When she first began to share her edgier side with the world, Cyrus received quite a bit of criticism, particularly from parents who thought the Disney star was a bad influence on children. Looking back, she was simply establishing the kind of artist she wanted to be — even if it meant shocking her longtime fans. That bit of scandal has ultimately allowed her to live authentically as an adult who still embraces the idea behind "Can't Be Tamed."

Now that Cyrus has unapologetically established who she, it shouldn't come as too much of a surprise that she declared "Can't Be Tamed" is "one of my favorite songs."