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Abracadabra (Brown Eyed Girls song)

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"Abracadabra"
Single by Brown Eyed Girls
from the album Sound-G
ReleasedJuly 20, 2009
Recorded2009
Genre
Length3:04
LabelNega Network
Composer(s)
  • Choi Jin-woo
  • Lee Min-soo
Lyricist(s)
Producer(s)
  • Hitchhiker
  • Lee Min-soo
Brown Eyed Girls singles chronology
"Candy Man"
(2009) 		"Abracadabra"
(2009) 		"Sign"
(2009)

"Abracadabra" (Korean: 아브라카다브라) 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.[1]

Background and release

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The song lyrics is written by Kim Eana (김이나), while Miryo wrote the rap lyrics. It is composed by a hit-songwriter Lee Min-soo (이민수) and hit-maker 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;[2] as such, they came back as "sexy bad girls".[3] The group returned to the various network music shows at the end of July, continuing the mature concept.[4]

Brown Eyed Girls perform their "Arrogant Dance" at the 2013 World Rowing Championship

Lyrics

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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.[5]

Reception

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The song was released to various digital outlets in July 2009, after which it quickly topped various online charts.[2] The song also won the "Mutizen Song" award on SBS's Inkigayo music program.[6] The song also won a Best Dance & Electronic Song at the 2010 Korean Music Awards.

Music video

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A screenshot of the 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.[7] The video was praised for its sensational and intense presentation but also garnered controversies regarding its sensual contexts.[5][8] 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.[5]

Teasers for the music video were released in mid-July 2009, hinting at a possible kiss scene between members Ga-in and Narsha.[9] After its full release, netizens posted critical remarks of the video due to its suggestive content.[2] However, the "Saucy" dance also known as the "Arrogant Dance" (called Sigeonbang chum in Korean), showing the members moving their hips left and right, became a popular dance.[10]

Various news agencies reported that member Ga-in watched pornography in order to prepare for the video's dance sequences.[11] However, on the August 29 broadcast of Star Golden Bell, Ga-in clarified the misunderstanding, stating that she watched sensual movies, namely 9½ Weeks.[10]

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In August 2009, a parody video was done by members of boy bands 'One Day' (a collective name of 2AM and 2PM), appeared there as "Dirty Eyed Girls" (드러운 아이드 걸스) in an episode of 2PM's reality show Wild Bunny; the Brown Eyed Girls said that they were thankful in response, as it showcased the video's popularity.[12] Psy used the "Abracadabra" dance in his music video for "Gentleman", which also featured BEG's own Gain. 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.[13][14] KBS then released it as a cover single on online streaming platforms on March 11, 2024.[15]

Accolades

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Awards and nominations
Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2009 Cyworld Digital Music Awards Song of the Month (August) Won [16]
Golden Disc Awards Digital Music Bonsang Nominated [17]
Mnet Asian Music Awards Best House & Electronic Won [18]
2010 Cyworld Digital Music Awards Bonsang Won [19]
Song of the Year Nominated
Korean Music Awards Best Dance & Electronic Song Won [20]
Music program awards
Program Date
SBS's Inkigayo August 16, 2009
August 23, 2009
Mnet's M Countdown August 20, 2009
September 3, 2009
KBS's Music Bank August 21, 2009

References

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  1. ^ (in Korean) Kim, Jae-hwan. 브아걸 ‘아브라카다브라’ 3주연속 1위 (Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" 3-Week #1) Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. Joins.com/Newsen. August 20, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c (in Korean) 브아걸 "당당한 섹시미로 독기 품었죠" (Brown Eyed Girls: "Strong Sexiness Led to Malicious Remarks") Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. SBS News. July 31, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  3. ^ (in Korean) [쿠키人터뷰①] 선정성 논란 브아걸 “섹시해졌다고요? 글쎄요 아직” (Kuki Interview 1: Surprised Brown Eyed Girls "We Got Sexy? Well, Not Yet") Archived September 10, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Kuki News. July 24, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  4. ^ (in Korean) 브아걸 '아브라카다브라'로 섹시한 인기가요 컴백무대 가져 (Brown Eyed Girls Return Sexy Comeback Performance with "Abracadabra" on Inkigayo) Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. Today Korea. July 26, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  5. ^ a b c Kim, Min-ju (김민주) (2009.08.04) ‘아브라카다브라’ 뮤비의 일등공신, 황수아 감독 interview Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine (in Korean) TVian
  6. ^ (in Korean) Kim, Eun-gu. 브아걸 '아브라카다브라' 뮤티즌송 수상, 지상파 첫 1위 (Brown Eyed Girls win Mutizen Song Award with "Abracadabra") Archived 2009-09-07 at the Wayback Machine. EDaily. August 16, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  7. ^ "황수아 : 영화정보 : 씨네21". Archived from the original on June 4, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2010.
  8. ^ 황수아 Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine Cine21
  9. ^ (in Korean) Hwang, Yun-jeong. `브아걸` 손가인-나르샤, 아슬아슬 `키스씬` 화제 (Brown Eyed Girls' Son Ga-in and Narsha, Loitering "Kiss Scene" Sparks Discussion) Archived 2012-07-11 at archive.today. Maeil Kyeongjae. July 16, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  10. ^ a b (in Korean) Hong, Jeong-won. 가인 시건방춤 연습한 ‘나인하프위크’ 어떤 영화? (Ga-in's Saucy Dance, Practiced by Watching "9½ Weeks"?) Archived August 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Joins.com/Newsen. August 30, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  11. ^ (in Korean) `브아걸` 가인 "야한영화 보고 뮤비 준비했다" (Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-in: "I Prepared by Watching Sexy Movies") Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Korea Economic Daily. August 29, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  12. ^ (in Korean) ‘드러운아이드걸스'의 '다불어때 다불었다'? 패러디 화제 (Dirty Eyed Girls' "It's Sung When it's All Sung"? Parody Sparks Conversation) Archived September 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. Mydaily. August 26, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
  13. ^ (여자)아이들((G)I-DLE) - 'Abracadabra' (Cover) @ OFFICIAL FAN CLUB NEVERLAND 3RD FAN MEETING, retrieved March 11, 2024
  14. ^ Abracadabra - (여자)아이들 [더 시즌즈-이효리의 레드카펫] | KBS 240202 방송, retrieved March 11, 2024
  15. ^ "(G)-IDLE reinterprets Brown Eyed Girls' 'Abracadabra'". koreajoongangdaily.joins.com. March 8, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  16. ^ "싸이월드 뮤직". Cyworld. July 18, 2012. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  17. ^ "2009 Golden Disk Award nominees revealed". Allkpop. November 2, 2009. Archived from the original on March 12, 2017. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  18. ^ "2009 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" Archived 2013-01-27 at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved 2014-06-12.
  19. ^ "2NE1 dominates at 2009 Cyworld Digital Music Awards". Allkpop. March 1, 2010. Archived from the original on September 17, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
  20. ^ "SNSD wins Song of the Year at 7th Korean Music Awards". Allkpop. March 30, 2010. Archived from the original on October 17, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2014.
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