"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" is a

country pop Country pop (also known as pop country or urban cowboy) is a fusion genre of country music and pop music that was developed by members of the country genre out of a desire to reach a larger, mainstream audience. Country pop music blends genres ...

song written for the 2009 film '' Hannah Montana: The Movie''. The song is performed by

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

, a character

Miley Cyrus Miley Ray Cyrus ( ; born Destiny Hope Cyrus on November 23, 1992) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Known for her distinctive raspy voice, her music spans across varied styles and genres, including pop, country, rock, hip hop ...

portrays in the film. The song was written by American singer-songwriter

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

and American singer Martin Johnson. A

karaoke Karaoke (; ; , clipped compound of Japanese ''kara'' "empty" and ''ōkesutora'' "orchestra") is a type of interactive entertainment usually offered in clubs and bars, where people sing along to recorded music using a microphone. The music is ...

version of the song is available in the soundtrack's karaoke series. The song is musically

and

pop rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre with an emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than rock music. Originating in the late 1950s as an alternative to normal rock and roll, earl ...

. Lyrically, the track is about staying grounded and going back to one's roots. The song received critical success for its use in the film. "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" was met with average-to-low commercial outcomes for Cyrus in several countries, compared to those of her previous efforts as Montana. It reached its highest international peak in the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

, at number thirty-six. The song was qualified for gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) and received a music video to coincide with the home release of ''Hannah Montana: The Movie''.

Development

Singer-songwriter

became involved with ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' when filmmakers emailed her specifically to request the use of her music in the film. Swift agreed to make a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

in the film to sing " Crazier" as well as to co-write a song with

Boys Like Girls Boys Like Girls is an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts. Formed in 2005, the group gained mainstream recognition when it released its self-titled debut album which went on to sell over 700,000 albums in the United States earning a ...

lead singer Martin Johnson. In an interview with

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, Johnson described working with Swift: "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" is used as the closing number of ''Hannah Montana: The Movie''. In the film, Cyrus performs as popstar Hannah Montana onstage at an outdoor fundraiser to save her hometown's treasured park from developers. More than 2,000 extras were used to film the scene.

Composition

"You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home", according to

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

, embodies the album's theme of merging

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

and

pop music Pop music is a genre of popular music that originated in its modern form during the mid-1950s in the United States and the United Kingdom. The terms ''popular music'' and ''pop music'' are often used interchangeably, although the former describe ...

. It is set in

common time The time signature (also known as meter signature, metre signature, or measure signature) is a notational convention used in Western musical notation to specify how many beats (pulses) are contained in each measure (bar), and which note value ...

with a fast rock

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 160

beats per minute Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery ( ...

. The song is written in the key of

E♭ major E-flat major (or the key of E-flat) is a major scale based on E♭ (musical note), E, consisting of the pitches E, F (musical note), F, G (musical note), G, A♭ (musical note), A, B♭ (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, and D (musical note), ...

. Cyrus' vocals span one

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

, from B♭₃ to B₄. The song has the following

chord progression In a musical composition, a chord progression or harmonic progression (informally chord changes, used as a plural) is a succession of chords. Chord progressions are the foundation of harmony in Western musical tradition from the common practice ...

, E♭5—D5—E♭5. Like the film, the lyrics discuss importance of one's roots. Warren Truitt of

About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, l ...

believed it conveyed "the sentiment that even pop stars find safe haven in their home town". The first few lyrics of the song's chorus are almost identical to the opening verse in

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her act ...

's song "

So Yesterday "So Yesterday" is a song by American singer Hilary Duff for her second studio album, ''Metamorphosis'' (2003). It was written and produced by The Matrix (a production team consisting of Lauren Christy, Scott Spock and Graham Edwards), with add ...

", which was released in 2003.

Critical reception

The song received positive reviews from critics. Simon Weaving of Screenwize.com said the film's conflicts are "mostly expressed in the simple, sugared lyrics of a series of pop hits that seamlessly find their way into the story—including ' The Best of Both Worlds' and 'You'll Always Find a Way Back Home'." James Plath of Dvdtown.com described the song as being "integrated pretty well into the narrative". Peter Canavese of Grouncho Reviews said "the story makes way for ..'You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home'", which would attract "the film's target audience of pre-teen girls". Warren of Truitt of About.com listed the song as the third best song by Hannah Montana. The song was included on the

short list A short list or shortlist is a list of candidates for a job, prize, award, political position, etc., that has been reduced from a longer list of candidates (sometimes via intermediate lists known as "long lists"). The length of short lists varie ...

for

Best Original Song This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

at the

82nd Academy Awards The 82nd Academy Awards ceremony, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), honored the best films of 2009 and took place on March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Los Angeles beginning at 5:30 p.m ...

Chart performance

The song made its debut on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number eighty-seven on the week ending April 11, 2009. "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" fell one spot to number eighty-eight in the following week, but on the week ending May 2, 2009 it reached its peak on the Hot 100 at number eighty-one due to digital downloads that placed it at number fifty-two on

Hot Digital Songs The Digital Songs or Digital Song Sales chart (previously named Hot Digital Songs) ranks the best-selling digital songs in the United States, as compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published by ''Billboard'' magazine. Although it originally start ...

. In the

, "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" debuted at eighty-eight on the week ending April 11, 2009 and reached its peak at number seventy-six on the week ending May 2, 2009.

Music video

A promotional music video for "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home" was filmed in correlation to the ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' soundtrack. The video, part of a series of promotional videos titled ''The Miley Sessions'', was released in March 2009 on

Disney.com disney.com is a website operated by Disney Digital Network, a division of The Walt Disney Company, that promotes various Disney properties such as films, television shows, and theme park resorts, and offers entertainment content intended for child ...

and features Cyrus singing in a vacant

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for sound recording, mixing, and audio production of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home project studio large enoug ...

. An excerpt from '' Hannah Montana: The Movie'' premiered as the song's music video in August 2009 on

Disney Channel Disney Channel, sometimes known as simply Disney, is an American pay television channel that serves as the flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney General Entertainment Content division of The Walt Disney Compan ...

to promote the home release of the film. The video begins with Cyrus and her backup dancers atop a stage in a crowded outdoor concert. Cyrus is dressed as Hannah Montana and is wearing a

business suit A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of tr ...

. As Cyrus begins singing, she and the dancers engage in intricate choreography. The video then transitions to a clip from ''Hannah Montana: The Movie'' in which Cyrus' character is getting down from a private airplane. The video continues to alternate between Cyrus performing and more film clips; scenes include Stewart taking off her Hannah Montana wig and interacting with Travis Body, her love interest in the film, portrayed by actor

Lucas Till Lucas Daniel Till (born August 10, 1990) is an American actor. In a career spanning two decades, he has appeared in multiple film and television projects spanning a variety of genres. He is a five-time Teen Choice Award nominee. His most notabl ...

. Midway through the video, Cyrus and her dancers exit the stage through a back door and instantly enter sporting

western clothing Western wear is a category of men's and women's clothing which derives its unique style from the clothes worn in the 19th century Wild West. It ranges from accurate historical reproductions of American frontier clothing, to the stylized garmen ...

with Cyrus in a western teal button up shirt, a checkered red and white table cloth with purple ruffles pettiskirt or a

petticoat A petticoat or underskirt is an article of clothing, a type of undergarment worn under a skirt or a dress. Its precise meaning varies over centuries and between countries. According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'', in current British Engl ...

, and

cowboy boots Cowboy boots are a specific style of riding boot, historically worn by cowboys. They have a High-heeled footwear#Men and heels, high heel that is traditionally made of stacked leather, rounded to pointed toe, high shaft, and, traditionally, no l ...

. Meanwhile, as the video ends, it shows that Miley wakes up and realizes (after the earlier events from the film) it's just a dream, with Jackson's car driving through the road, and the video ends.

Charts

Certification

References

External links

The official website of ''Hannah Montana''
{{good article 2009 songs American country music songs American pop rock songs Hannah Montana songs Songs written by Taylor Swift Songs written by Martin Johnson (musician) Walt Disney Records singles