Professional Widow


"Professional Widow" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Tori Amos, released on her third album, Boys for Pele. It is a harpsichord-driven rock song with lyrics rumored to have been inspired by the American songwriter Courtney Love.
"Professional Widow" was released as the album's third single on July 2, 1996, by Atlantic and EastWest, with remixes by the house producers Armand van Helden and MK. It reached number one on the US Billboard Dance Club Play chart. In Italy, the original version peaked at number two in October 1996. An edited version of the Armand's Star Trunk Funkin' Mix of "Professional Widow" was released as a double A-side single with "Hey Jupiter" in Europe and Australia.
On December 30, 1996, van Helden's remix was released as a single in the UK as "Professional Widow ". It topped the UK singles chart in January 1997 and reached the top 20 in Finland, Iceland, Ireland and Norway. In 2022, Rolling Stone named the remix the 109th-greatest dance song.

Lyrics

"Professional Widow" is rumored to be about the American songwriter Courtney Love, the widow of the Nirvana songwriter Kurt Cobain. Love said she had never determined if she was the "professional widow" of the title. In 1996, Amos said she had never met Love and that the song was about her own experience and "the part of myself that's Lady Macbeth". In a 2003 television interview, when the host said the song was inspired by Love, Amos interrupted with "allegedly" and smiled.

Remix

"Professional Widow" was remixed by the American DJ Armand van Helden. In Europe, the remix became more widely known than the original song.
Van Helden said that Amos was contractually entitled to approve all remixes, and called to thank him when his became popular in Europe. In a 1998 interview with Music & Media, Amos said: "It did kick my ass a bit I know what van Helden took and what he did and I think he did some very clever things I loved the fact that he didn't try and retain that at all, he went completely to the other pole."

Critical reception

Aberdeen Press and Journal said "Professional Widow" as "excellent". Justin Chadwick from Albumism wrote in his retrospective review of Boys for Pele, "Though much of the world is more familiar with the propulsive, dancefloor-filling Armand Van Helden remix of 'Professional Widow', its original incarnation featured here is noteworthy for its much-debated allusions to none other than Courtney Love." Neil Z. Yeung from AllMusic described it as a "powerful dose of industrial-piano ferocity that holds nothing back in its demands for peace, love, and a little something extra." Paul Verna from Billboard named it a "highlight" of the album, viewing it as "searing" and "groove-heavy". The Daily Vault's Sean McCarthy felt it's one of the most "straightforward" songs of the album. Kevin Courtney from Irish Times declared it as "a mad maelstrom of beats and harpsichord arpeggia, a sort of Portishead for the beaten generation". In a separate review of the remix, Courtney wrote, "Older fans of Tori's introspective balladeering will be bemused that their heroine now sounds like Stretch & Vern. Calling this a Tori Amos single is like describing "Money for Nothing" as a Sting song, and the lady's sampled voice is just incidental to the handbag-heaving beat and bassline."
Alan Jones from Music Week deemed the remix a "brilliant reworking" that was "as different from the rest of the album as chalk is from cheese". Tim Jeffery from Record Mirrors Dance Update gave it five out of five, writing: "Needless to say, any lyrical subtlety has gone out of the window on this remixed package but that's not the point really. MK and Armand Van Helden pick and choose which of Tori's lines to chop up into bits and loop over their own music — Helden's is by far the most inventive with loads of strange synth sounds over a Bucketheads-style groove and a terrific atmospheric drop in the middle. A big club hit for sure but it'll be radio that decides this record's success or otherwise." Cynthia Joyce from Salon noted that Amos' "penchant for abrupt endings and ad nauseam repetition; still surfaces on more experimental songs" like "Professional Widow". Kevin Newman from Smash Hits named it the best track of the album with "Caught a Lite Sneeze", describing it as "more-Björk-than-Björk". In 2014, Stereogum ranked the song number 10 on their list of the 10 greatest Tori Amos songs, Mixmag featured it in their list of the best basslines in dance music in 2020, and in 2023, The Guardian ranked the song number five on their list of the 20 greatest Tori Amos songs. In 2022, Rolling Stone named the "Professional Widow" remix the 109th-greatest dance song.

Music video

A music video was made for the "Star Trunk Funkin' Mix", comprising clips from other Amos videos edited together. It is the only video from between 1991 and 1998 that does not appear on Tori Amos: Complete Videos 1991–1998.

Track listings

US "Professional Widow" single

  • Maxi-CD
  1. "Professional Widow" – 4:31
  2. "Professional Widow" – 8:08
  3. "Professional Widow" – 7:20
  4. "Professional Widow" – 3:44
  5. "Professional Widow" – 6:56
  6. "Professional Widow" – 5:35
  7. "Professional Widow" – 4:31
  • '''12-inch single'''

    "Hey Jupiter" / "Professional Widow"

  • UK and Australian CD single
  1. "Hey Jupiter" – 6:03
  2. "Professional Widow" – 3:45
  3. "Sugar" – 5:43
  4. "Honey" – 4:19
  • UK 12-inch single
  • UK cassette single
  1. "Hey Jupiter" – 6:03
  2. "Professional Widow" – 3:45

    "Professional Widow (It's Got to Be Big)"

  • UK CD single
  1. "Professional Widow " – 3:45
  2. "Professional Widow " – 3:47
  3. "Professional Widow " – 8:06
  4. "Professional Widow " – 7:55
  5. "Professional Widow " – 3:31
  • UK 12-inch single
  • UK cassette single
  1. "Professional Widow " – 3:47
  2. "Professional Widow " – 8:06
  • European maxi-CD single
  1. "Professional Widow" – 3:45
  2. "Professional Widow" – 8:08
  3. "Professional Widow" – 7:20
  4. "Professional Widow" – 6:56
  • French maxi-CD single
  1. "Professional Widow" – 3:47
  2. "Professional Widow" – 7:55
  3. "Professional Widow" – 8:06
  4. "In the Springtime of His Voodoo" – 10:00

    Credits and personnel

Credits are lifted from the Boys for Pele album booklet. The album version includes the cry of a bull, which is credited as "bull" in the booklet.
Recording and production
  • Recorded at a church and "a wonderfully damp Georgian house"
  • Additionally recorded at The Egyptian Room and Dinosaur Studios
  • Mixed at Jacobs Studios, Mix This!, and Record One
  • Mastered at Gateway Mastering
Personnel

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Chart Position
Australia 65
Europe 84
UK Singles 47

Certifications

Release history