The Widow (song)

"The Widow"
Universal
Songwriter(s)	Cedric Bixler-Zavala Omar Rodríguez-López
Producer(s)	Omar Rodríguez-López
The Mars Volta singles chronology
" Televators " (2004) "The Widow" (2005) " L'Via L'Viaquez " (2005)

"The Widow" (sometimes titled "The Widow (I'll Never Sleep Alone)") is a song by

The single was also released on vinyl under the title "Frances the Mute".

The song appeared on an episode of

Rescue Me

.

Main track

"The Widow" is notably the only short, pop-structured song on Frances the Mute, although the album-version features a lengthy, non-radio-friendly, atonal outro of organ and electronic spasms, taking up the later 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 become distorted. It is also the only Mars Volta song to chart in the United States. The song is notable for its consistently high lead vocals which never go below the alto register.

The song features a brief trumpet part from

in 2004, and features only acoustic guitar and vocals, with some distortion effects.

"Frances the Mute"

The single also contains the 14-minute track "Frances the Mute", which was not included on the album of the same name. Many fans, based on comments by the band, consider this additional song as part of the Frances the Mute album and place it first in the running order, before "Cygnus....Vismund Cygnus".

Track listing

The Widow

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

Charts

Chart performance for "The Widow"

Chart (2005)	Peak position
Scotland (OCC)[2]	21
UK Singles (OCC)[3]	20
US Billboard Hot 100[4]	95
US Alternative Airplay (Billboard)[5]	7
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[6]	25

References