It seems to be a new trend in popular culture, as Miley Cyrus is once again the recipient of an open letter from a fellow musician.
Sinead O'Connor's recent feud with the 20-year-old ex-Disney princess started off with an open letter that Cyrus later mocked on Twitter, comparing the Irish singer/songwriter to troubled star Amanda Bynes. O'Connor went on to write Cyrus a whopping total of five open letters (and perhaps, still counting), urging her to apologize for her offensive remarks, though the latest star to critique her isn't interested in her mocking mental illness, but rather, her grammar.
Cyrus recently released her new album, "Bangerz," a massive stylistic and musical departure from her earlier work. It's the first musical project she's done without being under the watchful eye of Disney's Hollywood Records, and one song on the record, a potential chart-topper penned by Pharrell, got Sufjan Stevens worked up enough to reach out to her.
"Dear Miley," he wrote on his official website and Tumblr blog. "I can’t stop listening to #GetItRight (great song, great message, great body), but maybe you need a quick grammar lesson. One particular line causes concern: 'I been laying in this bed all night long.' Miley, technically speaking, you’ve been LYING, not LAYING, an irregular verb form that should only be used when there’s an object, i.e. 'I been laying my tired booty on this bed all night long.'
Whatever. I’m not the best lyricist, but you know what I mean. #Get It Right The Next Time. But don’t worry, even Faulkner messed it up. We all make mistakes, and surely this isn’t your worst misdemeanor. But also, Miley, did you know the tense here is also totally wrong.
Surely you’ve heard of Present Perfect Continuous Tense (I HAVE BEEN LYING in this bed all night long [hopefully getting some beauty sleep?]). It’s a weird, equivocal, almost purgatorial tense, not quite present, not quite past, not quite here, not quite there. Somewhere in between. I feel that way all the time. It kind of sucks. But I have a feeling your “present perfect continuous” involves a lot more excitement than mine.
Anyway, doesn’t that also sum up your career right now? Present. Perfect. Continuous. And Tense. Intense? Girl, you work it like Mike Tyson. Miley, I love you because you’re the Queen, grammatically and anatomically speaking. And you’re the hottest cake in the pan. Don’t ever grow old. Live brightly before your fire fades into total darkness.
XXOO Sufjan"
The musician's post quickly went viral and received praise from fans for its humorous nature, though some had their own critiques to add on.
"One must remember, Sufjan, that Miley doesn't necessary write all or some of her lyrics, but this task is left to the intelligentsia of illiterate and grammatically flawed music writers out there," wrote one Tumblr user in response.
In addition to "#GETITRIGHT," Pharrell Williams penned a number of other tracks on Cyrus's newest album, including "4x4" (featuring Nelly), "Drive" and "SMS (Bangerz)" (featuring Britney Spears), among others.
