"Abracadabra" () is a song recorded by South Korean girl group Brown Eyed Girls. Released as the second single from Sound-G in July 2009, it marked a change in the group's image and style. The song topped various on- and offline charts, including a 3-week chart-topping run on music portal Mnet. Kim, Jae-hwan. 브아걸 ‘아브라카다브라’ 3주연속 1위 (Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" 3-Week #1) . Joins.com/Newsen. August 20, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

Background and release The song lyrics is written by Kim Eana (김이나), while Miryo wrote the rap lyrics. It is composed by songwriter Lee Min-soo (이민수) and DJ Hitchhiker. Due to the various girl groups that debuted and succeeded in 2009, the Brown Eyed Girls felt that having a cute and innocent concept would work against them; 브아걸 "당당한 섹시미로 독기 품었죠" (Brown Eyed Girls: "Strong Sexiness Led to Malicious Remarks") . SBS News. July 31, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009. as such, they came back as "sexy bad girls". [쿠키人터뷰①] 선정성 논란 브아걸 “섹시해졌다고요? 글쎄요 아직” (Kuki Interview 1: Surprised Brown Eyed Girls "We Got Sexy? Well, Not Yet") . Kuki News. July 24, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009. The group returned to the various network music shows at the end of July, continuing the mature concept. 브아걸 '아브라카다브라'로 섹시한 인기가요 컴백무대 가져 (Brown Eyed Girls Return Sexy Comeback Performance with "Abracadabra" on Inkigayo) . Today Korea. July 26, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

Lyrics The song was originally titled "Voodoo". The lyric is about a blind love, and especially the phrase, 'a doll resembling you' implies a ritual popularly associated with the religion. However, as the title mentioning the specific religion was caught up by the censorship, it was replaced with the current title meaning a conjuration.

Reception The song was released to various digital outlets in July 2009, after which it quickly topped various online charts. The song also won the "Mutizen Song" award on SBS's Inkigayo music program. Kim, Eun-gu. 브아걸 '아브라카다브라' 뮤티즌송 수상, 지상파 첫 1위 (Brown Eyed Girls win Mutizen Song Award with "Abracadabra") . EDaily. August 16, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009. The song also won Best Dance & Electronic Song at the 2010 Korean Music Awards.

Music video

The 4-minute-long music video was directed by Hwang Sua, who had studied Film at New York University and established a career as a music video and commercial director. The video was praised for its sensational and intense presentation but also garnered controversies regarding its sensual contexts.황수아 Cine21 In a 2009 interview, Hwang said she wanted to express the feelings of the subject in the song going back and forth between reason and emotion in a modern and fashionable choreography since the main theme is a curse and blind love. She divided the video into two settings; performing scenes of the band and narrative drama scenes. The former are in a white background with toned-down saturation to prevent other narrative stories from conflicting the latter, and to represent an infinite space.

Teasers for the music video were released in mid-July 2009, hinting at a possible kiss scene between members Ga-in and Narsha. Hwang, Yun-jeong. `브아걸` 손가인-나르샤, 아슬아슬 `키스씬` 화제 (Brown Eyed Girls' Son Ga-in and Narsha, Loitering "Kiss Scene" Sparks Discussion) . Maeil Kyeongjae. July 16, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009. After its full release, netizens posted critical remarks of the video due to its suggestive content. However, the "Arrogant Dance" (), showing the members moving their hips left and right, became popular. Hong, Jeong-won. 가인 시건방춤 연습한 ‘나인하프위크’ 어떤 영화? (Ga-in's Saucy Dance, Practiced by Watching "9½ Weeks"?) . Joins.com/Newsen. August 30, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

Various news agencies reported that member Ga-in watched pornography in order to prepare for the video's dance sequences. `브아걸` 가인 "야한영화 보고 뮤비 준비했다" (Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-in: "I Prepared by Watching Sexy Movies") . Korea Economic Daily. August 29, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009. However, on the August 29 broadcast of Star Golden Bell, Ga-in clarified the misunderstanding, stating that she watched sensual movies, namely 9½ Weeks.

In popular culture In August 2009, a parody video was created by members of One Day (a collective name of 2AM and 2PM), appearing as "Dirty Eyed Girls" (드러운 아이드 걸스), in an episode of 2PM's variety show Wild Bunny. The Brown Eyed Girls said that they were thankful in response, as it showcased the video's popularity. ‘드러운아이드걸스'의 '다불어때 다불었다'? 패러디 화제 (Dirty Eyed Girls' "It's Sung When it's All Sung"? Parody Sparks Conversation) . Mydaily. August 26, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.

In April 2013, Psy used the "Abracadabra" dance in his music video for "Gentleman", which also featured the Brown Eyed Girls member Ga-in. A dance cover by the Brown Eyed Girls themselves was later uploaded onto Psy's YouTube channel on May 3, 2013.

In 2023, (G)I-dle performed a cover of the song at their third fan meeting, and reprised the cover at their 2 album fan meeting event in 2024. KBS then released it as a cover single on online streaming platforms on March 11, 2024.

Accolades +Awards and nominations Year Organization Award Result 2009 Cyworld Digital Music Awards Song of the Month (August) Golden Disc Awards Digital Music Bonsang Mnet Asian Music Awards Best House & Electronic "2009 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" . MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.2010Cyworld Digital Music Awards Bonsang Song of the Year Korean Music Awards Best Dance & Electronic Song

+Music program awards Program Date SBS's Inkigayo August 16, 2009 August 23, 2009Mnet's M Countdown August 20, 2009 September 3, 2009 KBS's Music Bank August 21, 2009

References

External links Official fansite