“Florida Kilos”

Far more playful and light in tone than the rest of her fourth album, Ultraviolence, “Florida Kilos” is a clear fit for one of Willy’s flashbacks in Act 2 of Death of a Salesman. Though the overall message of this work is far different than I would use it for within the scene, both share enough similarities in storytelling that would suite the play perfectly. Obviously, the “kilos” in the title refers to cocaine, and Florida, most prominently in the city of Miami, is a hotspot for trafficking. To Lana, Florida is a faraway place full of risk, but can be very rewarding.  After Howard leaves the room during his meeting with Willy, the following line would play lightly as Ben asks Willy to go to Alaska. “Come on down to Florida, I got something for ‘ya. We could see the kilos or the Keys, baby, oh-yeah” As the whole flashback sequence is about risk and leaving what you already have behind, “Florida Kilos” ties into Willy’s naïveté. Lana, in this work, doesn’t truly understand what she would be getting into, and neither did Willy during this flashback. As Ben begins to walk offstage, another piece of the song would play “People never die in Miami.” This would be a small allusion to Willy’s death at the end of Act 2, and would reinforce Willy’s inability to distinguish the past from the present. “Come on down to Florida” will be played one last time during the multi-song sequence during which Willy gets into his car and commits suicide.