11 Songs About Being The Other Woman (Or Hating Her)

I’ve never been the other woman.

And I never want to.

Thankfully I’ve also never been victimized by ‘the other woman.’ That I know of.

But there are obviously many “other women” out there.

Otherwise we wouldn’t have so many songs about being the other women.

I mean, I found enough of them that I was able to fill this article with only the best ones.

Keep reading for that list of great songs about the other woman. Whether you are her or hate her, there’s a song here for you.

 

Songs About Being The Other Woman

I tried to find as songs about the other woman in as many different genres as I could. That way, there should be a few songs her, one at least, that appeal to everyone.

 

The Other Woman by Lana Del Rey

Penned by Jessie Mae Robinson more than half a century ago, The Other Woman was a successful recording for Sarah Vaughan and Nina Simone before its more recent release by Lana Del Rey. Featuring as the final track on her 2014 release, Ultraviolence, the classic song telling of man’s duplicity gained a new audience.

The song’s opening verses speak of a woman’s jealousy towards the other woman and how they can always appear perfect:

The other woman has time to manicure her nails
The other woman is perfect where her rival fails.

The final verse empathizes with the other woman’s situation. The song’s final, haunting lyric tells of the pain of being the other woman:

And as the years go by, the other woman
Will spend her life alone.

 

Cold Shoulder by Adele

Adele’s debut studio album, 19, was released in January 2008 and featured the track Cold Shoulder. The song, released as a single a few months later, tells of a woman’s lament at playing second fiddle to another woman and the anguish of receiving the cold shoulder while knowing he’s thinking of another woman.

The song’s first verse reveals a relationship in turmoil, with the lyrics”You say it’s all in my head, And the things I think just don’t make sense” evoking images of a man denying there’s another woman.

The second verse tells of Adele beginning to feel invisible and that her man’s heart is no longer in the relationship, since the other woman is hogging his thoughts now.

 

Invisible by Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s eponymous debut album featured the track Invisible as a bonus on the deluxe edition. The song’s lyrics see Swift telling her man that even though he appears to look right through her, she’s better for him than the other woman. She tells him:

She’s never gonna see the light
No matter what you do.

Invisible is essentially about a girl who is head-over-heels in love with a guy, but he doesn’t notice her because of another woman. He’s in love with someone else, and she knows that the girl he’s in love with doesn’t notice him.

On account of the other woman being the object of the man’s desires, Swift tells of feeling invisible, yet remains hopeful:

We could be a beautiful miracle, unbelievable
Instead of just invisible.

 

Don’t Cha by The Pussycat Dolls (Feat. Busta Rhymes)

Written by Busta Rhymes and CeeLo Green, the song was first released by Tori Alamaze in 2004, before the Pussycat Dolls took it to the top of the charts in many countries the following year.

The sassier Pussycat Dolls’ version was an international success, reaching number two in the US and hitting the number one spot in the UK, Canada, and Australia. It also became a staple in strip clubs and is still one of the best stripper songs.

Rather than being a sad song about unrequited love, the track taunts the man with lyrics like:

Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was hot like me
Don’t cha wish your girlfriend was a freak like me.

The song is from the point of view of the other woman, telling the man that she knows he would rather be with her and that his current girl already knows:

I know you like me (I know you like me)
I know you do (I know you do)
That’s why whenever I come around
She’s all over you.

 

Jolene by Dolly Parton

American country music megastar Dolly Parton wrote Jolene in 1973, after feeling that she was about to become ‘the other woman.’ Parton has said the song is about an attractive bank clerk who flirted with her husband, with Parton imploring “please don’t take him just because you can.”

In 2014, Parton hit the stage at the UK’s Glastonbury Festival, telling the crowd “I wrote [Jolene] years ago when my husband … was spending a little more time with Jolene than I thought he should be. I put a stop to that. I got rid of that redhead woman in a hurry … Had it not been for that woman I would never have written Jolene and I wouldn’t have made all that money, so thank you, Jolene.”

 

Caroline by Kirsty MacColl

Penned as an answer song to Dolly Parton’s Jolene, the song is written from the point of view of Parton’s Jolene character. The lyrics describe a situation where Caroline’s man finishes with her and goes off to start a relationship with Caroline’s best friend (the singer of the song, Jolene).

As the best friend, MacColl tells of the guilt she feels for being a fake friend betraying her friend:

I wish I’d turned you away
And my head said go, but my heart, my heart said stay.

The song deals with the guilt felt by the other woman having betrayed her best friend, with the following lyric making those sentiments known:

Don’t want to see her cry when she knows you’re mine
Can’t look in those eyes and tell her she’ll be fine

MacColl chose to leave the song off her 1994 album Titanic Days, so it was released as a stand alone single in February 1995.

 

I Can Love You by Mary J. Blige ft. Lil Kim

Appearing on Blige’s 1997 album, Share My World, I Can Love You was released as the album’s second single and peaked at number two on the R&B singles chart. The track’s opening chorus includes the lines “I can love you (I can love you), I can love you better than she can,” setting the tone for the rest of the song.

The song features a smooth yet funky beat, combined with Mary J. Blige’s powerful and sultry vocals. The album version of the track also features a guest rap by Lil’ Kim, which was missing from the single version.

 

If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night) by Meshell Ndegeocello

Appearing on Meshell Ndegeocello’s debut album Plantation Lullabies, released in October 1993, If That’s Your Boyfriend (He Wasn’t Last Night) features lyrics sung from one woman to another, telling of the man’s indiscretions the previous evening.

The track’s title gives away the song’s theme, and the lyrics continue to reveal the other woman’s lack of regret. Rather than being full of remorse, the lyrics are essentially telling the other woman that she needs to find a better boyfriend, one who won’t cheat on her.

The line “He knocked on my door, So what should I say no for?” lays the blame on the man, suggesting the other woman should speak to him rather than lay the blame solely at her feet.

 

Don’t Think Of Me by Dido

Featuring as the third track on Dido’s debut album, Don’t Think Of Me tells of someone who’s not prepared to stand for being the other woman. It was exclusively released in the United States as the second single from the album, No Angel, on 7th February 2000.

The song’s somewhat bitter lyrics tell of Dido sarcastically wishing the man well with the other woman, commenting that she hopes the other woman can cook and clean as she does. The chorus sees Dido telling the man not to think of her when he’s with the other woman.

 

Borrowed by LeAnn Rimes

LeAnn Rimes’ eleventh studio album, Spitfire, was written on the back of a extra-marital affair, and the track Borrowed speaks of her feelings of falling for a married man.

She was married to then-husband Dean Sheremet, whom she left for actor Eddie Cibrian, who himself was married to Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star, Brandi Glanville.

The lyrics have been interpreted as Rimes trying to justify the affair, but it reality they simply tell of her torment at falling for a taken man and being the other woman.

 

Amy by Sunny Sweeney

Amy by Sunny Sweeney serves as an apology to the other woman. The track features as the fifth track on her second studio album, Concrete, and its lyrics ask for forgiveness. However, the song also points out that it takes two to tango, and that the man should also shoulder some of the blame.

The American country star’s lyrics begin with a plea for a chance to explain, before going on to say “Amy, he never meant to be untrue, But he needed love he said he never got from you,” also placing some of the blame with the other woman.

 

Songs About The Other Woman: Final Thoughts

As mentioned above, I tried my best to find songs about being the other woman in as many different genres as I could. But my knowledge of some genres is limited, so I know I’m light in a lot of them. And probably missed some altogether.

That’s where you come in. If you know of any great songs about the other woman in genres that are underrepresented here (or even in genres I have a lot of), please let me know in the comments below.