Agatha All Along

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"Agatha All Along"
Surf rock
Length1:02
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Robert Lopez
  • Kristen Anderson-Lopez
Video
"Agatha All Along" theme song and title sequence on
YouTube

"Agatha All Along", also known as "It Was ______ All Along", is an original song from the Marvel Studios Disney+ miniseries WandaVision. Written by the series' theme song composers Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez for the seventh episode, "Breaking the Fourth Wall", the song was performed by star Kathryn Hahn, with Lopez, Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall, and Gerald White serving as backup singers. The song drew inspiration from the theme songs from The Munsters and The Addams Family.

"Agatha All Along" went

Digital Song Sales chart at number 36, and earned Anderson-Lopez and Lopez a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
, among other accolades.

Background and production

Lopez provided background vocals for "Agatha All Along" and co-wrote it with his wife, Anderson-Lopez, while Hahn sang lead vocals.

In December 2020, songwriting couple

Agatha Harkness and the manipulator of Wanda Maximoff's idyllic suburban lifestyle inspired by American sitcoms in Westview, New Jersey.[2][3] The reveal was accompanied by a title sequence for the series Agatha All Along, which featured Anderson Lopez and Lopez's theme and sequences showing moments Agatha had been behind.[4][5][6] The credits for "Breaking the Fourth Wall" list the song's name as "It Was ______ All Along".[7][8][9] When developing the episode, the WandaVision writers wrote placeholder theme songs into the episodes before Anderson-Lopez and Lopez were brought on board, with Cameron Squires, the writer of "Breaking the Fourth Wall", originally naming the Agatha theme "That's So Agatha",[10] as a reference to the television series That's So Raven.[11]

"Agatha All Along" is similar to

Oompa-Loompa tenor feel to it too" and the feeling of something in a haunted house.[8][12] Initially, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez tried creating a song in a similar vein to "That Girl" by Stevie Wonder, but they felt it was not the right fit. They then began thinking of the song as being about witches, leading them to shows about witches and Goth figures as well as "Halloween-y" songs with a "grinding, growling" baritone saxophone.[12]

"Agatha All Along"'s chord progression begins in E minor before moving a tritone to B-flat in the bass, with a bridge centered in G major and a "Shave and a Haircut" ending.[13] The tritone is the same interval used by Anderson-Lopez and Lopez in the final two notes of their four-note WandaVision motif used in their other theme songs.[8][12] The song includes "a big-band horn riff",[14][15] "kitschy" electric harpsichord for the repeated chorus,[9][12] "cheery baritones",[9] a "'clap-clap, clap' snare",[13] and is sung in "kooky-spooky voices", with lyrics that reveal how Agatha had been behind all of the show's tragedies.[14][16]

Lopez and Anderson-Lopez produced the song,

Dave Metzger.[11] Hahn is the lead singer on the theme, with Lopez singing backup alongside Eric Bradley, Greg Whipple, Jasper Randall, and Gerald White, the other male backup singers from previous theme songs.[8][16] Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Hahn recorded her vocals over Zoom.[11]

Release

"Agatha All Along" was released digitally by

WandaVision: Episode 7 (Original Soundtrack).[18][19] The soundtrack was originally scheduled to be released on February 26, with The Verge speculating the release was moved up due to the popularity of the song.[19]

Reception

Critical response

Upon the release of "Breaking the Fourth Wall", "Agatha All Along" went viral, with viewers particularly drawn to the theme,[17][2][3] creating various remixes, memes, and TikTok videos in the following days.[16][6][20][19] A trap remix created by Leland Philpot received the attention of Anderson-Lopez, who called it "the most glorious thing", while Lopez enjoyed a rock remix from Timmy Sean, saying it was "incredible" that Sean was able to release it shortly after the episode without any sheet music available.[12] By February 23, the hashtag for the song had become a trending topic on Twitter, with Disney linking the hashtag to their Agatha emoji.[21] Disney's president of marketing Asad Ayaz called the moment "a zeitgeisty thing" and his team quickly released the official clip after unofficial ones were going viral. Ayaz noted that the marketing team had a plan around the reveal of Agnes really being Agatha and allowed the fans to help "drive the conversation".[22] Lopez admitted that they did not anticipate "Agatha All Along" would have garnered so much popularity, since by that point they had assumed none of their themes would have become hits since the previous one had not reached any level of popularity.[12] Matt Shakman, the episode's director, and Hahn were also taken aback by the song's popularity.[23][24]

Commentators called the song "catchy",

Emmy.[15]

Commercial performance

Following its release, "Agatha All Along" peaked at number one on

Digital Song Sales chart, with 3,000 downloads, while also garnering 1.6 million U.S. streams.[27]

Accolades

"Agatha All Along" was nominated at the 2021 MTV Movie & TV Awards for Best Musical Moment;[28] the song and Hahn were nominated at the 2021 Dorian Awards for Best TV Musical Performance;[29] for the 73rd Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, Anderson-Lopez and Lopez won Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the song;[30] and the song was nominated at the 64th Annual Grammy Awards for the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.[31]

References

  1. ^ Taylor, Drew (January 4, 2021). "Each Episode of 'WandaVision' Will Have a Different Theme Song Written by 'Frozen' Songwriters". Collider. Archived from the original on January 4, 2021. Retrieved January 4, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c Garvey, Marianne (February 24, 2021). "Marvel releases catchy 'Agatha All Along' song from 'WandaVision'". CNN. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ^ a b c Ferme, Antonio (February 23, 2021). "Marvel Releases 'Agatha All Along' Theme Song From 'WandaVision'". Variety. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  4. ^ Purslow, Matt (February 19, 2021). "WandaVision: Season 1, Episode 7 Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  5. ^ Agard, Chancellor (February 19, 2021). "Wandavision recap: Good for her". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  6. ^ a b c Gomez, Patrick (February 22, 2021). "WandaVision's "Agatha All Along" gets the trap remix it deserves". The A.V. Club. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  7. ^ Squires, Cameron (February 19, 2021). "Breaking the Fourth Wall". WandaVision. Season 1. Episode 7. Event occurs at 34:28. Disney+.
  8. ^
    Marvel.com. Archived
    from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  9. ^ a b c d Rivera, Joshua (February 24, 2021). "WandaVision's catchiest song works because it finally lets us all in on the joke". Polygon. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  10. ^ Itzkoff, Dave (March 8, 2021). "How the 'WandaVision' Creator Brought Her Vision (and Wanda's) to Life". The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Giardina, Carolyn (August 10, 2021). "'WandaVision' Duo Reveal How 'Addams Family' and 'Munsters' Inspired Emmy-Nominated Song "Agatha All Along"". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on August 11, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h Bahr, Sarah (February 27, 2021). "Meet the Songwriters Behind the 'Wandavision' Hit 'Agatha All Along'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on February 27, 2021. Retrieved February 27, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c Lawrence, Gregory (February 22, 2021). "You Can Finally Listen to That Devilishly Catchy 'WandaVision' Song on Its Own". Collider. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  14. ^ a b c d Brown, August (February 24, 2021). "'Wandavision's' 'Agatha All Along' theme song is the new 'Werewolf Bar Mitzvah'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  15. ^ a b Fraser, Emma (March 10, 2021). "'WandaVision': Every Original Theme Song, Ranked". Collider. Archived from the original on March 12, 2021. Retrieved March 12, 2021.
  16. ^
    Decider. Archived
    from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  17. ^ from the original on February 20, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  18. ^ "'WandaVision' Episode 7 Soundtrack Album Released". Film Music Reporter. February 22, 2021. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  19. ^ a b c d Gartenberg, Chaim (February 23, 2021). "You can now listen to WandaVision's latest spoiler-filled bop on Spotify and Apple Music". The Verge. Archived from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 23, 2021.
  20. ^
    Nerdist. Archived
    from the original on February 23, 2021. Retrieved February 22, 2021.
  21. from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  22. ^ Couch, Aaron (June 18, 2021). "Disney Studios Marketing Head Asad Ayaz on Mischievous 'Loki' Campaign". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on June 19, 2021. Retrieved June 19, 2021.
  23. ^ Coggan, Devan (March 2, 2021). "WandaVision director breaks down 'Agatha All Along' and teases the 'surprising but satisfying' finale". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 2, 2021. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  24. ^ Romano, Nick (March 3, 2021). "Kathryn Hahn reacts to being an iTunes-topping recording artist for 'Agatha All Along'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  25. ^ a b c Romano, Nick (February 23, 2021). "What WandaVision song just dropped on streaming? It's been 'Agatha All Along'". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  26. ^
    Cleveland.com. Archived
    from the original on February 25, 2021. Retrieved February 25, 2021.
  27. ^ "'WandaVision' Song 'Agatha All Along' Is Now a Billboard Chart Hit". Billboard. March 3, 2021. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved March 3, 2021.
  28. ^ Bosselman, Haley (May 16, 2021). "MTV Movie and TV Awards Full Winners List: 'To All the Boys' and 'WandaVision' Take Top Honors". Variety. Archived from the original on May 17, 2021. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  29. ^ Tapp, Tom (June 17, 2021). "'Pose,' 'WandaVision' Lead GALECA LGBTQ Critics' Dorian TV Award Nominations". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on June 17, 2021. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  30. ^ Giardina, Carolyn; Chuba, Kirsten; Beresford, Trilby; Drury, Sharareh (September 12, 2021). "Creative Arts Emmys: Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. Archived from the original on September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  31. ^ Willman, Chris; Aswad, Jem (November 23, 2021). "Grammy Awards Nominations 2022: The Complete List". Variety. Archived from the original on November 24, 2021. Retrieved November 24, 2021.

External links