“The Other Woman”

Easily one of my favorite songs out her entire career, “The Other Woman” from Lana’s third album, Ultraviolence, is a beautifully told tale of a mistress and the woman who has been put aside for her. Lana tells the story by describing what the woman does to please her man, and in the end, this woman is miserable.  This song most obviously would play with the first introduction of the woman during one of the first flashback sequences of Act 1. As she is heard laughing, the line “The other woman” will play as soon as she enters the scene, but the instrumental will start quietly in the background, and become louder until she has finished her arrival for the scene. The following line, “And when her old man comes to call, he finds her waiting like a lonesome queen.” would play as Willy walks towards her, and time would slow slightly, with the woman awaiting him. This song would also show the natural competition between The Wife and The Other Woman, as both are competing for the man’s affection and attention. Though Linda never learns of The Woman’s existence, the song will show the growing dichotomy between Willy’s life home and his life away. It will also set up the scene in Act 2 when Biff walks in on them, as the “lonesome queen” line can tie into her waiting in the bathroom. Later in Act 2, a snippet from this song will be used in when Willy’s car can be heard starting up. As pieces from other songs overlap, one of these pieces will be from “The Other Woman”. “And as the years go by, the other woman, Will spend her life alone.” will be played during this scene to signify the fact that The Woman will never see Willy again because he is dead, and she won’t know why he hasn’t returned.