‘Saturday Night Live’: Miley Cyrus performs ‘Karen Don’t Be Sad,’ ‘The Twinkle Song’ (video)

We’ll start this article with a confession: Tonight’s “Saturday Night Live” premiere was the first time that we’ve heard Miley Cyrus’ new song “Karen Don’t Be Sad.” It’s a very different track that we’re accustomed to hearing from her; it almost sounds a little bit like a late 1960’s folk anthem rather than something about partying or anything that we heard from her on her last anthem.

First, let’s talk about that hair outfit: We’re not sure what it was. Sometimes, we get the sense that Miley doesn’t try to connect her songs to her costumes at all. This was some strange hair ensemble, and she had about ten times as much material on her head as anywhere on the rest of her body. We don’t know how she managed to stand up straight at all during this performance.

As for the song itself, it did continue to remind us something that we often forget about in the midst of all of the Miley antics: She does actually know how to sing, and is a captivating performer! Her music is often pretty solid melodically, and sometimes the surrounding theatrics distract from that.

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Second song – This is “The Twinkle Song,” another track we hadn’t heard but one that was surprisingly powerful and emotional. It was a bold choice for Miley to actually scream after proclaiming in the lyrics that she wanted to. It did not improve things sonically per se, but it was hard to not get torn up seeing her become genuinely choked up in the performance.

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For those wondering, these songs are from Miley’s “& Her Dead Petz,” which is available on the internet right now. She is clearly trying something a little bit different when it comes to releasing her music, and that is putting some of it online herself.

If you missed our review from this weekend’s “Saturday Night Live” episode, be sure to head over to the link here! Also, sign up now in the event you want some additional TV news on everything we cover via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: NBC.)