"7 Things" is a song by American singer Miley Cyrus. The song was co-written by Cyrus, Antonina Armato and Tim James, and produced by John Fields. It was released on June 17, 2008, by Hollywood Records as the lead single from Cyrus' second studio album Breakout (2008), with no ties to her character Hannah Montana from the Disney Channel comedy series of the same name. Also registered as "Seven Things I Hate About You", Cyrus developed the song during the Best of Both Worlds Tour while feeling numerous emotions for an ex-boyfriend, mainly anger. The song's release prompted allegations that it was about Nick Jonas of the Jonas Brothers, which Cyrus neither confirmed nor denied. Musically, "7 Things" bears aspects of both country and pop punk, while the lyrics in the song's refrain list seven traits Cyrus hates about an ex-boyfriend.
"7 Things" received mixed to positive reviews from music critics and enjoyed worldwide commercial success, becoming a top ten hit on charts in Australia, Japan, Norway, and the United States. The single was certified double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), while its appearance on the Japan Hot 100 made "7 Things" Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country. The song's accompanying music video was directed by Brett Ratner and features Cyrus performing the song with a backup band as many teenage girls lip-sync along. The girls clutch a variety of props, such as love letters and snow globes, inspired by personal items Cyrus' ex had given her. The video was nominated for an MTV Video Music Award at both the 2008 and 2009 award shows. Cyrus promoted the song through several venues including her world tours, the Wonder World Tour and the Gypsy Heart Tour. On May 13, 2008, the song premiered on Elvis Duran and the Morning Show before its official release as a single.
Background "7 Things" is also under the legal title of "Seven Things I Hate About You", as registered by Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI). Like most of the songs on Breakout, Cyrus conceived "7 Things" while traveling on the Best of Both Worlds Tour from October 2007 to January 2008.
Cyrus says "7 Things" was inspired by an ex-boyfriend. In an interview with Ryan Seacrest, Cyrus said that she was "going through [...] nine-hundred different emotions while trying to write the song" and that her use of the word "hate" demonstrated how furious she was. When Seacrest asked if she was worried the song's subject would hear it and be upset, Cyrus responded that while she was slightly worried, "I want him to be upset. That was my point." She showed her draft to co-songwriters and producers Tim James and Antonina Armato, who suggested adding it to Breakout. Originally, "7 Things" was more "soft and nice" but Cyrus says she "went nuts" during the recording process and gave the song a harder sound. Cyrus had initially chosen "Fly on the Wall" as the lead single from Breakout, but replaced it with "7 Things" because she felt it was a "better introduction" to the album.
Nick Jonas allegations
Allegations that "7 Things" was about Nick Jonas, lead singer of the Jonas Brothers, arose soon after the song's premiere on the May 13, 2008 broadcast of Elvis Duran and the Morning Show. Cyrus and Jonas had dated for a year and a half before breaking up in late 2007. Cyrus claimed, "Nick and I loved each other" and that after the breakup she "bawled for a month straight" while trying to rebel "against everything Nick wanted [her] to be".
Henry Freeland of Paste described "7 Things" as "the list of reasons she hates an ex-boyfriend (who just might be lead Jonas Brother, Nick)" and her "concern [...] that all of this hatred only leads them to love Maybe-Nick [...] all the more". Blogger Molly Lambert, quoted in The New York Times said, "[Cyrus] had recently broken up with her first serious boyfriend — a fellow Disney celebrity, Nick Jonas, of the Jonas Brothers, who was also her arena-concert tour mate during their secret two-year affair. In the video for '7 Things' she wears Nick's diabetes dog tags while singing about how his vanity and insecurity undermined their relationship." Jessica Herndon of People similarly points out the necklace and the fact that Jonas, "who split with Cyrus in late 2008 after two-and a half years of dating – has Type 1 diabetes and is a spokesperson for awareness of the disease." When asked if the allegations were true, Cyrus said,
Jonas responded to the allegations with, "I think it's funny. Honestly, I'm not insecure, my friends are cool—so it can't be about me!" According to Tiger Beat magazine, when Cyrus' best friend Mandy Jiroux was asked if "7 Things" was about Jonas, she responded, "yes".
Composition
"7 Things" is a pop song with a length of three minutes and 33 seconds. According to Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine, the song's verses are tinged with country while its refrains bear pop punk aspects. The song is set in common time and has moderate rock tempo of 108 beats per minute. It is written in the key of E major while Cyrus' vocals span two octaves, ranging from C#3 to C#5. Alt URL Fraser McAlpine of the BBC called the song "a three-tempo patchwork quilt". In the song's introduction, the band begins to strum acoustic guitars at a moderate tempo while Cyrus chants "sha". The tempo continues as Cyrus begins the first verse in the song's fourth bar. At each chorus, "7 Things" speeds up dramatically and Cyrus' vocals become aggressive and forceful; Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly described the transition as "from sensitive breakup song in the strummy verses to punky-pop kiss-off in the double-time choruses." McAlpine noted the stress Cyrus places on vowels in the song: "'yerw' instead of 'you', 'erw' instead of 'oh', and so on...".
The song's lyrics are written in second person, a message from the singer to her ex-boyfriend detailing the hurt he caused her while they were dating. The refrain is a list of the seven traits the singer "hates" most about her ex, with the seventh item being her frustration that despite his flaws, he makes her love him. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times noted that the list actually "runs to 8 to 11 things, depending on how you parse it". Henry Freedland of Paste magazine compared it to a similar list featured as a poem in the 1999 film 10 Things I Hate About You. In one verse, Cyrus asks for a sincere apology and states, "If you text it, I'll delete it", which Molly Lambert of The New York Times said "perfectly captur[es] our confusing age of technologically mediated courtship." The song concludes with a variation of the refrain, in which Cyrus names the seven things she likes the most about her ex, again concluding with "you make me love you".
Critical reception
"7 Things" received mixed reviews from critics. Fraser McAlpine of the BBC called the song "smashing", complimenting Cyrus' "punker attitude all wrapped up in an immaculate gloss". Todd Martens of the Los Angeles Times wrote that while he wished the song had played up Cyrus' frustration rather than concluding with the kind final verse, "the winning, full-on chorus -- and Miley's exuberance -- are enough to make it a success." Ben Ratliff of The New York Times said "7 Things" "lists with talky insecurity what she hates about a guy" and calls "the seven things she likes [...] a shameless Disney ending". Heather Phares of Allmusic contended, "7 Things" is a twangy, clever piece of love-hate pop that feels descended from Shania Twain's flirty mix of rock and country" and marked it as one of the best tracks on Breakout. Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly called it one of Breakout's "best tunes" because it "let Cyrus be feisty without graduating to Avril-like levels of petulance" while Josh Timmermann of PopMatters finds it "appealing".
Mordechai Shinefield of The Village Voice described the song as "hooky and catchy enough", but warned that "it's only a step away from warmed-over emo platitudes". Sarah Rodman of The Boston Globe claimed "[Avril] Lavigne's brand of pop-punk snarl creeps into '7 Things'." Robert Christgau labeled "7 Things" and "Breakout" the best songs on Breakout. Chris Richards of The Washington Post claimed the album's "overproduction is apparent on the chorus of the album's first single, "7 Things," an avalanche of guitars and rushed syllables." Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine called the single "rather annoying" and not "a worthy follow-up to 'See You Again'", while Bill Lamb of About.com said the "winning performance" demonstrated that "Miley Cyrus does not intend to simply be a TV-generated phenomenon in the pop music world. She is a compelling pop artist in her own right."
Chart performance On the week ending June 21, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 85 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song ascended to number 70 the week ending July 5, 2008, before jumping to number 10 in its third week due to sales of 130,000 digital downloads. "7 Things" moved up to number 9 on the week ending July 26, 2008, surpassing "See You Again" and becoming Cyrus' best charting effort on the Hot 100. The single managed to spend fifteen weeks on the Hot 100, and was ranked at number 92 in the Year-End in 2008. "7 Things" also peaked at number 14 on the now-canceled Pop 100 chart. In Canada, the song debuted at number 40 on the week ending July 5, 2008, and peaked at number 13 on the week ending July 26, 2008. As of March 2023, "7 Things" has sold 2,000,000 units in the United States and was certified two-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
"7 Things" was also a success in Australia and New Zealand. The song made its debut on the Australian Singles Chart at number 38 on August 17, 2008. After five weeks, "7 Things" reached its peak on the chart at number 10. The song has been certified gold by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipping over 35,000 copies. "7 Things" debuted at number 27 on the New Zealand Singles Chart on August 17, 2008, and, after eight weeks on the chart, reached number 24. "7 Things" also became Cyrus' first song to chart in an Asian country: on the week ending September 27, 2008, "7 Things" debuted at number 81 on the Japan Hot 100; it reached number 9 on the week ending October 17, 2008, and reached its peak at number 8 on the week ending October 24, 2008.
In the UK Singles Chart, "7 Things" made its entry at number 87 on September 13, 2008, and reached its peak at number 25 on December 13, 2008. In mainland Europe, the song peaked at number 44 on Eurochart Hot 100 Singles and at number 14 in Austria. "7 Things" debuted and peaked at number 8 on the Norwegian Singles Chart on August 19, 2008. The song experienced similar commercial outcomes throughout the rest of Europe; it charted within the top 40 of charts in Belgium (Flanders and Wallonia), Germany, and Switzerland.
Music video
Cyrus invited Brett Ratner, director of the "7 Things" music video, to her home to tell him how much the song meant to her and what it was about. After proposing numerous ideas to each other, they decided to make the video "simple with a white backdrop". Cyrus said that neither she nor Ratner wanted the video to be "all about [her]" because the song's message was universal; "almost every girl in America could say they hate their ex or current boyfriend," claimed Cyrus. As a result, the video features numerous adolescent girls including actresses Nicola Peltz, Liana Liberato, Hunter King, and Maiara Walsh. During the planning session, Cyrus showed Ratner a collection of personal items her ex had given her, such as photographs and his dirty socks, which she had stowed away beneath her bed. They decided to include some of these items as props in the music video. For example, the necklace Cyrus wears in the video was her ex-boyfriend's medical identification tag, which he received because of his diabetes mellitus.