The Widow

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the song. For the play, see The Widow (play). For the recovered pirate galleon, see Whydah Gally.

“The Widow”
Single by The Mars Volta from the album Frances the Mute
B-side	"Frances the Mute"
Released	March 14, 2005
Format	CD, Vinyl
Genre	Progressive rock
Label	MCA
Producer	Omar Rodriguez-Lopez
The Mars Volta singles chronology
"Televators" (2004) "The Widow" (2005) "L'Via L'Viaquez" (2005)

"The Widow" is a song by The Mars Volta, from their second album Frances the Mute. The song was first performed in May, 2004 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles during The Mars Volta's three-night residence closing the tour supporting their debut LP, De-Loused in the Comatorium. At the concert, the song was dedicated to Jeremy Michael Ward, who had died of a drug overdose in May 2003. The song peaked at #95 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, making it the band's first single to chart there.

[edit] Main track

"The Widow" is notably the only short, pop-structured song on Frances the Mute, (although the album-version features a very long and radio-unfriendly electronic outro, taking up the latter half of the track). The edit of "The Widow" cuts the last instrumental part of the regular album track and fades out when the vocals start to be distorted. It is also the only Mars Volta song to chart in the United States.

The song features a brief trumpet part from Flea, after the second chorus. Omar performs a brief solo in the same section. On the vinyl version of the single, "The Widow" is taken from one of the Wiltern performances, and features only acoustic guitar and vocals, with some distortion effects.

[edit] "Frances the Mute"

The single also contains the 14-minute track "Frances the Mute", which was intended to be the first track on the record of the same name^{[citation needed]}. However, this would have made the CD nearly 90 minutes long, beyond the capacity of a normal CD.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Frances the Mute" - 14:39
   • "In Thirteen Seconds"
   • "Nineteen Sank, While Six Would Swim"
   • "Five Would Grow and One Was Dead"
2. "The Widow" (Edit) - 3:19

v • d • e The Mars Volta Omar Rodríguez-López · Cedric Bixler-Zavala · Isaiah Ikey Owens · Juan Alderete · Thomas Pridgen · Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez · Adrián Terrazas-González · Paul Hinojos Eva Gardner · Jeremy Michael Ward · Jon Theodore Studio albums De-Loused in the Comatorium · Frances the Mute · Amputechture · The Bedlam in Goliath EPs Tremulant · Live Live albums Scabdates Singles "Inertiatic ESP" · "Televators" · "The Widow" · "L'Via L'Viaquez" · "Viscera Eyes" · "Wax Simulacra" Related articles The Mars Volta tours · At the Drive-In · De Facto · The Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Group · Gold Standard Laboratories · Sparta · John Frusciante · Julio Venegas · Money Mark · Zechs Marquise