—Agatha Harkness[source]The Ballad was the trick. It was just a con to lure other gullible witches. The song doesn't mean anything. It never did. The Road wasn't real until you made it real.
The Ballad of the Witches' Road was believed to be an incantation to access to the Witches' Road.[1][2]
History
In 1750s the witch Agatha Harkness and her son Nicky Scratch travelled around the New England Colonies, never staying in one place for long they were constantly on the move. In 1756 a 6-year-old Nicky just for fun started to create a song about all the roads they travelled, the things he saw around and experienced. His mother helped him to find rhymes and they also included lines about each other and their love.[2]
Agatha later changed "the road" in the chorus to "the witches' road" and Nicky sang this version in taverns to attract attention of the witches whom Agatha then killed. Unbeknownst to them the song had started to spread far outside the taverns they have visited. More and more witches started to learn about it and the legend was born about the mysterious Witches' Road that can grant any wish to a witch who can finish it.[2]
After Nicky's death, Agatha discovered that many desperate witches were looking for the Witches' Road which actually never existed. She realized that she could use it to lure and kill witches, so Agatha further modified the lyrics to form The Ballad of the Witches' Road.[2] For efficiency Agatha wanted to kill multiple witches every time, so the Ballad stated what to access the Witches' Road, a coven of at least four witches including a protection witch to represent the element of fire, a potioneer to represent the element of water, a green witch to represent the element of earth, and a divination witch to represent the element of air must gather and sing the Ballad.[1] Agatha wanted to kill entire coven every time and not leave any witnesses, so she preferred to attract only the most desperate witches who had no other hope, because of it the Ballad stated that after accessing the Witches' Road, the coven then undergoes trials where the witches must face their fears under the very real threat of death,[3] but those who can finish the Road will find what they want the most[1] or what they are missing.[4] Since the Witches' Road wasn't real, once the coven gathered and performed the Ballad naturally no door to the Road appeared. Agatha then berated the witches and blamed them for being too weak and unworthy to get access to the Road, all in order to provoke them to attack her with magic so she could absorb their powers and kill them. Over the next centuries thanks to the Ballad Agatha managed to attract and kill countless desperate witches.[2]
In 1978, Lorna Wu and the Coral Shores released a cover of the Ballad of the Witches' Road that became the most well-known version.[1] This altered version of the Ballad was meant to protect her daughter from the fiery touch of their familial generational curse. With her audience as her coven, fans playing Lorna's version of the Ballad continued to protect Alice into adulthood.[5]
In 2026 to open a portal to the Witches' Road, Agatha Harkness and "Teen" gathered a coven consisting of Madame Lilia Calderu, Jennifer Kale, and Alice Wu-Gulliver. Lacking a green witch, Agatha also recruited Sharon Davis under dubious circumstances. Together, the five sang the Ballad of the Witches' Road. Although the spell initially appeared not to work, a door did materialize at the feet of the coven allowing them an entrance to the Witches' Road[1] as a subconscious manifestation of Billy's desires[6] much to the shock of Agatha.[2]
As part of the second trial of the Witches' Road, Alice and the coven performed Lorna's version of the Ballad to vanquish the generational curse stalking the Wu family.[5]Properties
Original Version[]
Original version of the song created by Nicky Scratch had no power and no special properties. It was just a song he created for fun with the help of his mother Agatha Harkness about their travels and each other.[2]
After Nicky's death Agatha sang additional verse over his grave about her grief.[2]
Sacred Chant[]
Portal Summoning: The Ballad of the Witches' Road was believed to be used to summon an entrance to the Witches' Road. To summon the portal, a coven of at least five witches including a protection witch to represent the element of fire, a potioneer to represent the element of water, a green witch to represent the element of earth, a divination witch to represent the element of air, and a spirit witch must gather and sing the incantation.[1]
Lorna Wu's Version[]
Protection: Lorna Wu modified the Ballad into protection spell to protect her daughter from the fiery touch of their familial generational curse.[5]
Videos[]
Accolades
- The Ballad of the Witches' Road (Sacred Chant Version) won Guild of Music Supervisors Award in 2025 in "Best Song Written and/or Recorded for Television" category.[7]
Trivia
- Each episode of Agatha All Along was named after a line or lyric of the Ballad of the Witches' Road.
- On The Ballad of the Witches' Road album by Lorna Wu and the Coral Shores, the side 1 tracks include "The Ballad of the Witches' Road", "Miles To Go", "Ember", "Something Wicked", and "Call The Corners",[4] and the side 2 tracks include "Mary Mary", "Red Haired Woman", "Cinnamon & Sage", "Flick of the Wrist", and "Swan's Song".[5]
See Also
- 4 appearance(s) of Ballad of the Witches' Road
- 2 mention(s) of Ballad of the Witches' Road
- 5 image(s) of Ballad of the Witches' Road
Links and References
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Agatha All Along S1E02
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 Agatha All Along S1E09
- ↑ Agatha All Along S1E03
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Agatha All Along S1E06
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Agatha All Along S1E04
- ↑ Agatha All Along S1E08
- ↑ Fell, Nicole (February 24, 2025) ‘Wicked,’ ‘A Complete Unknown’ Among 2025 Guild of Music Supervisors Awards Winners The Hollywood Reporte.