During an interview on A Perfect Circle's officially released Interview Disc, guitaristBilly Howerdel noted that "Judith" was "a truly unique song, in that it was done from start to finish in just one sitting". According to Howerdel, he had parts of Judith already completed prior to meeting vocalistMaynard James Keenan. After Keenan joined, the song became heavier, and is one of the heaviest on Mer de Noms. Lyrically "Judith" treads ground similar to Tool songs like "Eulogy" and "Sober", with anti-religious lyrics like "Fuck your God", the only expletive on Mer de Noms.
Themes and lyrics
Keenan explains on the Amotion DVD how the song is about his mother Judith Marie Keenan, who suffered a stroke and was restricted to a wheelchair for the rest of her life, yet still believed in Christianity.
Video
The music video for Judith was directed by David Fincher, the director of Fight Club, Se7en, and music videos for Aerosmith, Madonna, and The Wallflowers. The video consists of the band performing in a large, empty studio with many of Fincher's signature cinematic tricks employed: dark smoky lighting, obscuring of faces, extensive film scratching, and frame manipulation. All members are shown performing their instruments in the video. At the end of the first chorus and the beginning of the second verse, in which the bass drops out, for a drum and lead guitar-only section, bassist Paz Lenchantin is seen putting her hair in a bun. However, she could not do it fast enough in real time during the filming, and consequently the section was slightly sped up for the filmed action to fit the space within the song. In an interview with Sook-Yin Lee, a former MuchMusicVJ, Howerdel revealed that the band originally intended for the video to have a storyline, but due to time constraints, were unable to do so. The music video for Judith can be found on the Amotion DVD, along with individual commentary from Keenan and Howerdel.
Remix
"Judith" was one of several songs created/remixed by Danny Lohner for the soundtrack to the movie Underworld. The remix, entitled "Judith " is a darker, more industrial-based version which features the use of drum machines and synthesizers.
