I really, truly, honestly never thought this wouldn't be in the top 10.
Therefore, I'm a lot surprised and a little upset.
If We Were A Movie was written by Jeannie Lurie and Holly Mathis, and produced by Rock Mafia for the debut season and soundtrack of Hannah Montana. I'm sure you recognize Jeannie's name from other songs like Rock Star (#38), I Wanna Know You (#54) and I'm Still Good (#43). Holly Mathis has only two other credits to her name, including I Have Arrived by Emma Roberts from the Unfabulous & More compilation. The song's debut appearance was in the season one episode "Good Golly, Miss Dolly", which I wrote about in my Who Said write-up
here. The song has very typical pop-rock production for the time, with melodic, catchy, strumming guitars, and boppable drums as the main back drop of it all. The melodies are also extremely catchy and typical pop-rock, making it something that's extremely easy to sing or at least hum along with by the end of the first or second listen, and it ends up getting stuck in your head for
days. But the main focus here is the lyrics, which tell a tale of unrequited love, but with a twist, because Miley/Hannah is comparing her situation to a movie, and how if she and this boy were in one, the outcome would be different. Unrequited love is a normal subject for pop songs, and music in general, but I've literally never heard another song take this approach, and that unique quirky-ness of it all makes it really stand out among not just Hannah's discography, but my favorite music in general. And as I've gotten older, I've ended up loving this song more, due to how much I've ended up relating to it. And yes, I'm about to get mad personal with y'all. My first real instance of connecting to the song came in my freshman year of high school, when I was 14. I developed a huge crush on my best friend. She was really cute, and had always been nice to me, and she ended up being someone I was really close with. When I came clean about my crush at the end of the school day, I didn't stick around for a reaction and waited until the next day. She promptly ignored me at lunch, and when I realized what she was doing, I told her I had lied and said I was actually crushing on someone else, citing embarrassment as my reason. I'm not entirely sure she believed me, but she did stop ignoring me, and I quickly got over it when I realized I had no chance. Still, this became my angsty anthem in the couple months that I harbored the crush. Later that same year, an old friend of mine - one of the people I could've called a friend when I was a kid - who had moved away came back to school, and made me realize all the puppy crush feelings I had on him when I was younger, confusing me more as a teen aware of my sexuality. I never told him anything - he was clearly straight - but I did write him a letter, one I ended up not giving him. A couple crushes, a first boyfriend, and a first hook-up turned sort of relationship later, we arrive at who the song is most recently about: a classmate of mine in College Chorus, who I became pretty close to, and would flirt endlessly with, mostly in a joking manner. He's straight, so I'm left to my default mode of pining and trying not to want to be with him because he's exactly my type - only straight. As far as I know, he technically graduated this past semester, and I won't see him much or at all when/if I return next year, though we are friends on social media. Hopefully, this will help me get completely over him. Okay, now that that's over, I can talk about the actual facets of the song that I love. Like I said, the song is typical mid-00s pop-rock production, which means it's exactly my favorite genre of music. Everything about the production is perfect, but I especially love the guitar work throughout. The melodies are wonderfully catchy and the chorus has that "put your arms in the air and wave them while you scream-sing along" feel to it and I love that. The way the bridge builds in a crescendo make sit feel intense, epic and cinematic, and when most of the production drops out and she's just singing the chorus before it all comes back in - a moment. I especially love the part the vocals overlap at "I see it could be amazing (it could be amaaaaziiiing! If we we were a
moooviiiie.) If we were a movie, you'd..." etc. And the lyrics - they're so clever and well-written. I mean, this manages a story that's sad, romantic, hopeful, and a little desperate without ever crossing into cheesy territory. And I love how they play on classic teen movie tropes - the main characters are a boy and a girl, who are close friends, and through a series of shenanigans and romantic mishaps, realize they belonged with each other the entire time. But this is real life, and it never works out the way we want, and we don't always get the Hollywood movie ending we'd like. There's so many different ways a song could take this - obviously the romantic subject is the most obvious one, and it works really wonderfully here - but in many different situations, people watch movies and wonder why they're life can't turn out like that. In movies, there's no gray area: the good people are heroes, the bad people are villains, and the heroes always win and save the day, and all the good people survive. But life rarely works out the same way, and there's a lot of hard choices to make as it goes on. That's what escapism in film is all about, and why this song expresses those emotions of wanting a life like the movies perfectly. I never get sick of singing this while lightly bopping and jamming to the production. I could have it on repeat all day long and not get tired of it. To be honest, it very nearly was my Hannah 11. I went with Let's Do This, because I figured this song would get lots of love, and make it really far, and I even assumed it'd be in the top 10. So I wanted to support a song that I loved that snuck up on me, compared to the instant love I've had for this since I was 6, and one I knew wouldn't do that well. And I don't totally regret that decision. Because I was right - Let's Do This was extremely underrated, and obviously #11 is a great spot to land in a rate. But I'm Boo Boo the Fool, because if I had gone ahead and made this my 11, it would be in the top 10 like it should be. So i regret it a little tiny bit. Hell, if it had gotten just one point higher from anyone, it'd be in the top 10. But it's too late now. And we're gonna have to live with this mistake. But it's fun, the song is used to be doing wrong. I will forever resent Miley for not including this in her set-list for The Best Of Both Worlds Tour. Why the fuck was Pumpin' Up The Party performed but not this?? Who on Earth would make that decision? I'm still disgusted, to this day. At least the song got some sort of live performance/music video. Though it was never included in the show, I do remember it playing during commercials and such on the channel. When it comes to critics, only
AllMusic had something to say, but thankfully, it was praise, citing the song's "sharper-than-average songwriting, especially on [its] clever, catchy chorus." Taste AllMusic. Taste.
Of course, our voters have taste as well.
@DJHazey (8) is here for the chorus:
Okay this is better than the last two required songs because this chorus is extremely catchy. First discovery. I too agree that this is better then Who Said and The Best Of Both Worlds, and am upset it didn't beat the latter.
@pop3blow2 (8.7) gets his parts mixed up but I knew what he meant:
Always liked that little part in the middle where most of instruments drop out. That's literally near the end of the song bud dddd. But yes, it's such a great moment.
@M24 (8.8) noticed something that I did not:
First Hannah's song about love, and it's unrequited love. Doesn't disappoint, probably one of my favs in this first album. You're right of course, it is her first love song. Now I love it even more, cause it's a unique subject for the soundtrack.
@phily693 (9) like me, is a sucker:
Typical mid 00s pop rock tropes (the fade ins and outs especially) and I’m sucker for it all. Same ddd, I just can't get enough. Also like me,
@TwistedInnocence (9) can relate:
I was reminded of how much this song meant to me when I was 13 and I related to it so much - it’s a cheesy Disney bop when listening back but I can’t not rate it this high! It's so well-written that it isn't cheesy though.
@iheartpoptarts (10) has a hopeful heart:
This is the cutest thing ever. I hope they did fall in love in the end. Whoever they are. Well, I think the song is most associated with Jake on the show, and well...they did end up together! But....let's just say it didn't last. Although it could also refer to Corbin Bleu's Johnny, and he won a date with Hannah, and there's a chance he dated Miley, but it isn't confirmed. Finally,
@savilizabeths (10), like me, nearly 11'd this:
One of my Hannah eleven contenders. This one is still perfect. The lyrics are super cute and definitely iconic if you were invested in this era of Disney Channel like I was. That damn chorus! Sometimes I find myself singing this with my friends and everyone knows all the words and just adores this one. AND THE BRIDGE! What a song! Ten outta ten! Just like that time when me, my mom and my sister got our lives to it on the way to Alabama, way back in January dddd. Also, yes you're 110% correct.
Enjoy this classic again:
The music video:
The version that features Corbin Bleu:
An acoustic bit Miley does in its first episode:
And why not? A season one compilation of Miley and Jake set to the song: