She kept coming back to a single melody that had haunted her since her days living in trailers and cheap motels: "The Other Woman."
The air in the Electric Lady Studios in New York was thick with the scent of old velvet and clove cigarettes. It was late 2013, and Lana Del Rey was deep in the creation of Ultraviolence . She had moved away from the hip-hop beats of Born to Die , seeking something darker, grittier, and more timeless. She kept coming back to a single melody
When the album was released, "The Other Woman" became a cult favorite. It bridged the gap between the 1950s torch singers and the modern "sadcore" movement. To this day, when fans search for that track, they aren't just looking for a song; they are looking for that specific, cinematic feeling of being beautiful, lonely, and completely misunderstood. When the album was released, "The Other Woman"
Here is a story of how that song became a cornerstone of her "tragic starlet" mythology. Here is a story of how that song
In the story of the song, the "other woman" is a creature of perfection. She has fresh lilies in her home; she never has a hair out of place; her French manicure is always flawless. She is the dream—the person a man goes to when he wants to escape the mundane reality of his wife and children.