If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

The Agatha All Along song ‘The Ballad of the Witches’ Road’ was originally "a bop," and had high hopes from Marvel Studios

Inside the creation of Agatha All Along’s ‘The Ballad of the Witches’ Road’ (and why Marvel wanted the song)

Agatha All Along Teen, Rio, And Agatha
Image credit: Marvel Studios

It’s hard to think about Agatha Harkness without remembering ‘Agatha All Along.’ The song, which was first heard in Marvel’s WandaVision, was a moment in time. It was a pop culture tsunami, and a catchy tune. And thus, when Agatha Harkness got her own spinoff, Marvel Studios knew they needed another brilliant song.

Enter ‘The Ballad of the Witches’ Road.’

“The earliest sort of kernel for the design of the show was my hope and my mantra to the writers that the show is a spell,” Agatha All Along showrunner Jac Schaeffer says during a panel at PaleyFest LA 2025. “We wanted the show itself to be a spell. To cast a spell on the audience. As we were trying to figure out how to accomplish that, we were talking about how we needed to bring a song into it, because of the bop that was ‘Agatha All Along.’ Those sort of twin goals of the show, the spell, and needing a bop, well, music is a spell. A song is a spell.”

“We just kind of kept unpacking that it became not only is the song itself a spell, it is the con of the show, and it is always the main character’s deep emotional truth. And so, then I went to the [songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez] and was like, ‘So hey, I need you to write a song that is all of these things and also handles this enormous burden of plot.’ They wrote lyrics, and I was like, ‘Yeah, that’s not good enough.’”

“We did have to note the lyrics really meticulously because it was all tied to the plot and how we were defining witchcraft and the rules of the world. I mean, it was a mind scramble, and they were the perfect partners for that kind of endeavor.”

‘The Ballad of the Witches’ Road’ hit number 22 on Billboard’s US Digital Songs chart. It also won the Music Supervisors Guild Award for Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television. All in all, I would say it exceeded Schaeffer’s mission statement. If this song is a spell, it can hex us anytime.


Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

About PaleyFest LA 2025

Dates

-

Visit the event page
×
Joshua Lapin-Bertone

Joshua Lapin-Bertone: Joshua is a pop culture writer specializing in comic book media. His work has appeared on the official DC Comics website, the DC Universe subscription service, HBO Max promotional videos, the Batman Universe fansite, and more. In between traveling around the country to cover various comic conventions, Joshua resides in Florida where he binges superhero television and reads obscure comics from yesteryear.

Comments

Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.

View Comments (0)

Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy