Other Woman
Title: The Other Woman [Style: slow 90s doom-grunge ballad, low-tuned guitars, crawling bass, dry drums, cracked male vocal, heavy layered harmonies, bleak intimate room sound] [Tempo: 66 BPM, dragging and heavy] [Voice: weary male lead, close and dry in verses, cracked and forceful in choruses] [Harmony plan: constant male harmony layers, low octave doubles in verses, sour thirds and fifths in choruses, mmm/ooo pads, call-and-response backing vocals] [Production: dry close vocal, wide chorus stacks, overdriven bass, restrained drums, no modern post-grunge polish, no arena rock] [Intro: soft humming, no drums, clean guitar, low bass] [layered male humming, close and mournful] Mmmm-ooo Mmmm-mm Ooo [Softly and broken, low harmony under lead] I pretend I’m alright [low harmony: alright] I pretend I’m happy [low harmony: happy] But inside I still fight [low harmony: still fight] With the memories I see [soft ooo harmony pad] [Verse 1: fragile lead, low octave double tucked underneath] Ooo-ooo [stacked ooo harmonies, sour third above] Mmmm-mmm-mmm [low mmm pad] Nooo [high harmony answers: nooo] No I’m still here [low harmony: still here] And you’re still there [low harmony: still there] How can you seem so satisfied [harmony rises on “satisfied”] This is just so unfair [wide harmony stack: unfair] Nooo-noo-no [call-response: nooo-noo-no] Oooo-ooo-oo [wide ooo harmonies] Mmmmm-mmm [low mmm continues] [Chorus: guitars open, drums heavier, wide vocal stack] I’m still here [wide harmony: still here] I’m still breathing [low harmony: still breathing] I’m still alive [high fifth harmony: alive] I’m just... [brief silence] Grieving [full harmony stack: grieving] Mmmm-nooo [low harmony pad] Grieving the end of you and me [high harmony follows lead, low fifth underneath] No [backing: no] No [lower backing: no] No... [descending three-part harmony] Oooo [wide ooo pad] Ooo [Verse 2: bitter lead, heavier bass, harmony on key lines] I’ve moved on, but I’m just pretending [low harmony: just pretending] Me and that woman, sometimes I wish it was ending [sour third on “ending”] A house, a marriage, and a kid [low octave double] I should be happy, but I’m still in this pit [wide harmony blooms: pit] Pit... yeahhh... oooo [stacked ooo harmonies, slow bend] Nooo-noo-no [call-response: nooo-noo-no] Nooo [low harmony: nooo] Mmmmm [low mmm pad] Mmmm [Chorus: heavier, lead nearly breaking] I’m still here [wide harmony: still here] I’m still breathing [low harmony: still breathing] I’m still alive [high fifth harmony: alive] I’m just... [brief silence] Grieving [full harmony stack: grieving] Mmmm-nooo [low harmony pad] Grieving the end of you and me [high harmony follows lead, low fifth underneath] No [backing: no] No [lower backing: no] No... [descending three-part harmony] Oooo [wide ooo pad] Ooo [Bridge: drums drop out, bass and clean guitar only] Sometimes I still dream of you calling [low harmony answers: calling] I wake up with a pit in my stomach, I’m falling [high harmony stretches on “falling”] Just me, no you, just that other woman [low harmony: other woman] That other woman [three-part harmony: other woman] No [backing: no] No [Bridge build: toms enter, call-and-response harmonies] I gave her my days [response: my days] But you kept the nights [response: the nights] I gave her my name [response: my name] But you kept the knife [wide ugly harmony stack: knife] [Breakdown: full band returns, thick guitars] And I hate that I miss you [low harmony: miss you] I hate that I care [high harmony: I care] I hate that I’m home now [low harmony: home now] And still want you there [three-part harmony: want you there] [Final Chorus: biggest section, full harmony-soaked sound] I’m still here [wide harmony stack: still here] I’m still breathing [low harmony: still breathing] I’m still alive [high harmony: alive] I’m just... [brief silence] Grieving [full harmony stack, long sustain] Mmmm-nooo [stacked mmm and ooo harmonies] Grieving the end of you and me [sour third above, low fifth below] No [backing: no] No [lower backing: no] No... [descending three-part harmony] I’m still here [wide harmony: still here] You’re still there [low harmony: still there] And God, I hate [tight bitter harmony] How much I care [full harmony stack: care] [Outro: instruments fall away, whisper lead] No... [low backing: no...] I’m still here [whisper harmony: still here] You’re still there [whisper harmony: still there] It’s just so... [low mmm pad] Unfair... [soft unresolved three-part harmony] [Final harmony tag: barely audible] Still here Still breathing Still grieving [End on dry guitar chord, no fade]
