Women in Country Wednesday: "Hoedown Throwdown" by Miley Cyrus
Part line dance, part nostalgia, all fun. Happy Fourth!
Happy WCW and Happy Fourth of July!
As the sun sets on American Democracy, I wanted this week’s WCW recommendation to help us go out with a bang.
But first, a trip down memory lane.
The year was 2009, and Barack Obama had just become the President of the United States. But more importantly for me and every American tween, that was the year Hannah Montana: The Movie premiered.
Growing up, my mom didn’t let me watch Hannah Montana on Disney Channel because she thought I would get ideas about having a boyfriend. This effort failed on two fronts. First, for years prior, I had been sneakily watching episodes at my uncle’s house anyway. Second, for over a decade after, dating eluded me to the point of my mother’s amusement and frustration.
As a child, I was obsessed with Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana: I begged my parents to play her Breakout album CD on every car ride, I toted around a screen-printed towel with Hannah Montana’s face for every beach trip, and I even attended a Miley Cyrus concert when I was seven (my very first concert!). Then, for my next birthday party, my parents took all my friends and me to see what eight-year-old-me considered the greatest movie of all time.
Though I am not sure Hannah Montana: The Movie holds up to my juvenile, rosy retrospection, I must say the movie's soundtrack is spectacular, which includes “Crazier” by Taylor Swift, “Butterfly Fly Away,” “The Climb,” “You’ll Always Find Your Way Back Home,” and, this week’s WCW recommendation, “Hoedown Throwdown.”
In my mind, there is no better country song than one that builds choreography into the song, and that’s exactly what “Hoedown Throwdown” does.
Miley gives us the “bar-b-cues” to “zig zag cross the flo’” and “shuffle in diagonal.” I’m tempted to transcribe a few more lyrics, but honestly, they don’t need an analysis—“Hoedown Throwdown” is just a fun, jaunty song to line dance and blast at your next barbecue.
In fact, I argue that it is much more fun to watch (and learn) the choreography below. Take it from Miley and 8-year-old me, who memorized the choreo during elementary school recess: “whether you’re 5 or 82, this is something you can do.”
You can find “Hoedown Throwdown” and other barbecue-ready bops on my “Let’s Go Girls” playlist, linked below. And, as always, all WCW recommendations can be found here. Happy Fourth!