"The Wrong Man, The Wrong Time" is a haunting gothic ballad that chronicles a supernatural odyssey of love, vengeance, and cosmic indifference. It begins not with magic, but with a human act of cruel passion: a woman's defiant slap and a walk into flames, setting in motion a descent into a mythic underworld of ancient witches, haunting banshees, and predatory landscapes. The story masterfully blends the visceral bitterness of a failed relationship with the eerie texture of folklore, suggesting that personal wounds can open doorways to older, darker forces that wait in places like the "shan-a-kee's ancient tomb."

The narrative unfolds as a dual pursuit: her journey into a covenant of "savage women" and his desperate, doomed chase through a coastal mist taunted by omens. The song's chilling chorus transforms the piece into a ritual, where the witches' dance, the banshees' bone-time, and the crows' wicked rhymes become a savage symphony celebrating his destruction. Their reunion is not redemption but a consummation of the trap, as her kiss ensnares him once more just before the coven tears him apart in a "wild rotation"—a sacrifice to an ancient, female power that operates beyond mortal morals.

In the devastating aftermath, the focus returns to her ambiguous grief and the story's bleak, existential core. The final verses reveal the true tragedy: there is no grand reason, no destined meaning behind the horror. The outro delivers the cold verdict with spoken-word finality: "He was the wrong man, in the wrong place." The world sleeps on, unchanged and unknowing, as the song closes with the coven's eternal, echoing chorus—a reminder that while individual lives are consumed by indifferent forces, the ancient, wild, and dreadful dance simply continues.

The Wrong Man and The Witches

Collection of songwriters under the leadership of Bill Kinlough

The Wrong Man and The Witches

The Great Unwashed