Miley Cyrus Sings Paul Simon’s ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ on ‘SNL 40’
Once again, Miley Cyrus has taken a stab at classic rock credibility. She sang Paul Simon’s ’50 Ways to Leave Your Lover’ on the 40th anniversary episode of Saturday Night Live.
It’s not that the performance was particularly bad; for much of the song she sang it straight, and even gave it a bit of bluesy grit behind the excellent musical accompaniment. However, during the final chorus, Cyrus started belting, which didn’t suit the song. It called to mind a 1987 ‘SNL’ sketch where Jan Hooks, as one of the Sweeney Sisters, screamed the coda of “Bridge over Troubled Water” while inches away from Simon’s face. You can check it out here.
But the biggest head-scratcher was that Simon was in the building. He and Paul McCartney performed the Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen a Face” during the monologue. It didn’t really make sense to bring Cyrus on when its composer was right there.
Paul Simon has long been associated with SNL, as both a host and a musical guest. Arguably his most famous appearance was around Thanksgiving 1976 when he performed “Still Crazy after All These Years” while dressed in a turkey suit.
