“The Widow” is the lead single from the second studio album, Frances the Mute. It is notable for being the only song by The Mars Volta to chart, finishing at #95 on the Billboard Hot 100. Flea, bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers, lent a short trumpet part to the song.
[Verse 1]
He's got fasting black lungs
Made of clove splintered shards
They're the kind that will talk
Through a wheezing of coughs
[Pre-Chorus 1]
And I hear him every night, in every pore
And every time he just makes me warm
[Chorus]
Freeze without an answer, free from all the shame
Must I hide?
'Cause I'll never, never sleep alone
[Verse 2]
Look at how they flock to him
From an isle of open sores
He knows that the taste is such
Such to die for
[Pre-Chorus 2]
And I hear him every night on every street
The scales that do slither deliver me from
[Chorus]
Freeze without an answer, free from all the shame
Then I'll hide
'Cause I'll never, never sleep alone
[Bridge]
Oh lord
Said I'm, said I'm
Said I'm, said I'm bloodshot for sure
Pale runs the ghost
Said I'm, said I'm
Swollen on the shore, swollen on the shore
[Pre-Chorus 3]
In every night, in every pore
The scales that do slither deliver me from
[Chorus]
Freeze without an answer, free from all the shame
Then I'll hide
'Cause I'll never, never sleep alone
Freeze without an answer, free from all the shame
Let me die
'Cause I'll never, never sleep alone
[Instrumental Outro]
The Widow was written by Cedric Bixler-Zavala & Omar Rodríguez-López.
The Widow was produced by Omar Rodríguez-López.
The Mars Volta released The Widow on Tue Jan 18 2005.
Cedric Bixler-Zavala:
I was attracted to “The Widow” like you would be to a lover, right? I sang over it with Omar while we were touring De-Loused in Australia on the Big Day Out, like, ‘Okay, I’ve got something for this.’
—via Press Release