Wrecking Ball

The harmony of "Wrecking Ball" derives its emotional power from simplicity rather than complexity. The entire song revolves around four diatonic chords in D minor (Dm, Bb, F, C), rearranged across sections to create contrasting emotional contours. The pre-chorus introduces brief harmonic variety with Gm (iv) and a borrowed A major dominant, providing the only moment of true tension before the chorus releases into the familiar VI–VII–i–III pattern. This economy of means allows the vocal performance and dynamic production to carry the emotional weight.

"Wrecking Ball" was written by MoZella, Stephan Moccio, and Sacha Skarbek, with producers Dr. Luke and Cirkut also receiving co-writing credits alongside David Yungin Kim. The song was originally composed with Beyoncé in mind, a fact hinted at by co-writer Sacha Skarbek in a 2012 tweet reading "Beyonce song now becoming a Miley Cyrus song?!! Good/bad? I don't know??!!!!" before being offered to Cyrus for her album Bangerz.

Released in 2013 as the second single from Bangerz, "Wrecking Ball" became Miley Cyrus's first number-one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and a defining cultural moment of the decade. The raw, vulnerable vocal delivery over a sweeping minor-key production made it one of the best-selling singles of 2013 worldwide, while its controversial music video broke the Vevo record for most views in 24 hours.