Noah Cyrus Reveals She Struggled Growing Up as Miley Cyrus' Little Sister

Noah Cyrus is opening up about growing up in Miley Cyrus‘ shadow.

In her new song “Young & Sad,” Noah, 20, sings, “My sister’s like sunshine, bringing good light wherever she’ll go/ and I was born to rain clouds, blessed in her shadows.”

During an Instagram Live, Noah explained to her fans what the lyrics mean.

“I think just the message in the second verse, being born in the family I was in, everyone gave me such a hard time for having a hard time being Miley’s little sister,” Noah explained. “But you know, I always felt like I was that person that no one gave a s–t about due to what people said to me online.”

Noah continued: “It was absolutely unbearable. And that’s why I write, ‘My sister’s like sunshine, bringing good light wherever she’ll go/and I was born to rain clouds, blessed in her shadows.’ Because, that’s why everybody always says to me, that no matter what, I was going to be in that shadow.”

Noah admitted that she “always believed” she would only stay in Miley’s shadow, and she had a very hard time overcoming that thought.

“That was something I heard my whole life, every single day, my whole life. It was either that or that I wasn’t enough in some way, whether it was the way I look or the way I am. Like I said the other day, sometimes I feel like I don’t even breathe right sometimes,” Noah explained.

“Basically, that is what the song is about, and I just wanted to open up about that once and for all, because that’s been a big part of my life, and I probably won’t talk about it anymore. I just wanted to put it out,” Noah continued.

“Everybody always says you’re giving the people power by seeing it, but I can’t control seeing it,” Noah tearfully added. “You guys are young, you know the internet. It’s been really tough on me, so that song is just pretty tough to get through.”