Song For The Dead

Not to be confused with the album's title track "Song For The Deaf," this is "Song For The Dead," written by Queens Of The Stone Age leader Josh Homme and Screaming Trees frontman Mark Lanegan, who sings lead on the track. Homme brought musicians in and out of the band from album to album; Lanegan came on board for their second album, Rated R, in 2000 - he co-wrote and sang "In The Fade." On Songs For The Deaf he also co-wrote "No One Knows" and sang lead on "Hangin' Tree" and "God Is In The Radio." "Song For The Dead," as you can suss from the title, deals with death in rather abstract terms, which was Lanegan's style (he died in 2022 at 57 after a debilitating bout with COVID). "Life's the study of dying," he sings. "How to do it right."

The album is called Songs For The Deaf because it's so heavy that even the deaf can hear it. Nick Oliveri, who was Josh Homme co-conspirator on the album, says "Song For The Dead" is the heaviest of the bunch.

On drums is Dave Grohl, who was taking some time off from Foo Fighters to play on the album. He had mostly completed the sessions for the Foo Fighters album One By One but needed some distance from it, so teaming with QOTSA was a good way to recharge. Songs For The Deaf was released in August 2002, with One By One following in October. That May and June, Grohl did some touring with Queens Of The Stone Age.