Hannah Montana: The Movie (soundtrack) - Writing and Development

Writing and Development

Most of the songs on the soundtrack were offered to Peter Chelsom, the film's director, for inclusion on the film. Producer Alfred Gough said, "Peter Chelsom describes the Stewart family as a bilingual family whose second language is music, and that's very true in this movie." Chelsom says the film's numerous songs are tightly woven into the fabric of the story and the characters, which is why he believes the film will feel like a musical without being one. "We continuously dance very close to the convention of a musical but are more integrated. Songs are going to sit within the film, not apart from the film. At times, you won't notice the music is happening; it'll just move the story along."

In regards to Cyrus' songs, Chelsom said, "We realized this was an opportunity to move forward with the music, to update it and make it more sophisticated, to move with Miley’s age. I’ve never had a better musical experience on any film." Cyrus noted that most of the songs included on the soundtrack were inspired by the return of Cyrus' character, Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana, to her Nashville roots. She explained, "The soundtrack is all about Nashville, and that's where I'm from, that's my roots. I think that's a lot of the reason I am who I am." Cyrus co-wrote "Don't Walk Away" because it was to be included on her own studio album Breakout (2008). "Hoedown Throwdown", a song in which Cyrus calls dance steps, took much time to write. It became an ongoing collaboration between Chelsom, Cyrus, choreographer Jamal Sims, and the song's writers, Adam Anders and Nikki Hasman.

"Dream" is a cover of the Diana DeGarmo song "Dream, Dream, Dream" from DeGarmo's debut album, Blue Skies. Jessi Alexander said she was inspired to write "The Climb" while driving to the home of her songwriting partner, Jon Mabe. Once she arrived, they decided to write a song about overcoming obstacles. Alexander referred to the process as a form of "therapy". It had initially been passed over by several artists until Chelsom chose it and offered it to Cyrus. Under the name Hannah Montana, Cyrus performs the song "Let's Do This", which was originally written and recorded by American country singer Adam Tefteller. The last track is a remixed version of Cyrus' hit "The Best of Both Worlds" (2006). The song is used as the theme song of the Disney Channel television show Hannah Montana, the basis of the film, and was originally released on the television series' first soundtrack.

Several other artists appear on the soundtrack. Billy Ray Cyrus' song on the album, "Back to Tennessee", is the title track of his eleventh studio album. Written by Cyrus, Tamara Dunn and Matthew Wilder, the song reflects the desire of both Cyrus and his character in the film, Robbie Ray Stewart, to return to their roots. Disney artist Steve Rushton sings "Everything I Want" and "Game Over". Rascal Flatts perform acoustic versions of previous efforts originally released on Feels Like Today (2004) and Me and My Gang (2006). When approached about participating in the soundtrack, Taylor Swift sent her ballad "Crazier" because it "was perfect to fall in love to". Swift also shares a writing credit with Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls on the opening track "You'll Always Find Your Way Back Home".