| Wrong | |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Lindsey Buckingham |
| Album: | Out of the Cradle |
| Released: | 1992 |
| Genre: | Rock |
| Length: | 4:19 |
| Label: | Reprise |
| Producer: | Lindsey Buckingham, Richard Dashut |
| Chronology: | Lindsey Buckingham |
| Prev Title: | Slow Dancing |
| Prev Year: | 1984 |
| Next Title: | Countdown |
| Next Year: | 1992 |
"Wrong" is a song by Lindsey Buckingham, released in 1992 from his third solo album Out of the Cradle. In North America, "Wrong" was the album's first single, although in Europe, "Countdown" was released instead. In May 1992, "Wrong" was serviced to album-oriented rock radio stations; a music video was also created to coincide with the release of the single.[1] In the song's music video, Buckingham engages in a series of guitar duels with doppelgängers emerging from a mirror.[2]
While the song failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, it did reach number 23 on the Mainstream Rock chart and also peaked at number 50 in Canada. "Wrong" was performed a few times during the Out of the Cradle tour, although it was later dropped from the setlist.[3] Buckingham was surprised that the record company picked "Wrong" as the album's first single; he wanted "Don't Look Down" to fulfill that role instead.[4]
"Wrong" was partially written as a response to Mick Fleetwood's first memoir, My Life And Adventures In Fleetwood Mac. "He [Fleetwood] came out with his book, and it was just kind of a real trashy thing...He doesn’t have a mechanism for self-editing in that way or perhaps discerning where the line is".[5] To achieve the metallic guitar tone on "Wrong", Buckingham applied treble to a gut string guitar, which was connected directly to the recording console.[6]
The New York Times noted that the song "takes a look at music industry crassness".[7] Jean Rosenbluth of the Los Angeles Times seconded this analysis and wrote that "the vitriol in 'Wrong' about the business of being a rock star, comes through best in the vocals".[8] Stereo Review highlighted Buckingham's "neurotic falsetto" vocals, which created a "dramatic effect".[9] BAM magazine described "Wrong" as "a wailing, dark view of classic rock stardom and the 'biz'".[10] Billboard characterized the song as "uptempo" and "feverish".[1] In a retrospective analysis of Out of the Cradle, Michael Roberts of Westword identified "Wrong" as one of the few unreserved songs on the album, instead labeling it as a "biting music-biz exorcism".[11]