Abracadabra (Brown Eyed Girls song)
| "Abracadabra" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Brown Eyed Girls | ||||
| from the album Sound-G | ||||
| Released | July 2009 | |||
| Format | Digital download | |||
| Recorded | 2009 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 3:04 (album version) | |||
| Label | NegaNetwork | |||
| Writer(s) | Kim Eana, Lee Minsu, Jinu | |||
| Producer(s) | Hitchiker | |||
| Brown Eyed Girls singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Abracadabra" (Hangul: 아브라카다브라) is a song by Korean girl group Brown Eyed Girls. Released as the second single from Sound-G in 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 M.Net.[1]
History
The song is written by Kim Eana (김이나) and composed by a hit-song writer Lee Min-su (이민수), and Jinu (지누), a member of Roller Coaster.[2][3]
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;[4] as such, they came back as "sexy bad girls".[5]
Promotion
The group returned to the various network music shows at the end of July, continuing the mature concept.[6]
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.[7]
Charts and performance
The song was released to various digital outlets in July 2009, after which it quickly topped various online charts.[4] The song also won the "Mutizen Song" award on SBS's Inki Gayo music program.[8] The song also won a "Best Dance/Electronic song of the year" in the 2010 Korean Music Awards. By the end of 2009, the song was downloaded 3,095,468 times becoming one of the best-selling singles in that year. In December 2011 it was reported that the song actually is one of the biggest hits in the South Korean music history, with a huge popularity in Asia and 4,986,293 downloads in South Korea alone.
Music video
The 4-minute-long music video was directed by Hwang Su-a, who had studied Film at New York University and established a career as a music video and commercial director.[9] The video was praised for its sensational and intense presentation but also garnered controversies regarding its sensual contexts.[7][10] 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 tone-downed saturation to prevent other narrative stories from conflicting the latter, and to represent an infinite space.[7]
Teasers for the music video were released in mid-July 2009, hinting at a possible kiss scene between members Ga-in and Narsha.[11] After its full release, netizens posted critical remarks of the video due to its suggestive content.[4] However, the "Saucy" dance (called Sigeonbang chum in Korean), showing the members moving their hips left and right, became a popular dance.[12]
Various news agencies reported that member Ga-in watched pornography in order to prepare for the video's dance sequences.[13] However, on the August 29 broadcast of Star Golden Bell, Ga-in clarified the misunderstanding, stating that she watched sensual movies, namely 9½ Weeks.[12]
In popular culture
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.[14] Psy used the "Abracadabra" dance in his music video for "Gentleman", which also featured BEG's own Ga-In.
References
- ↑ (Korean) Kim, Jae-hwan. 브아걸 ‘아브라카다브라’ 3주연속 1위 (Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" 3-Week #1). Joins.com/Newsen. August 20, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ↑ (2009-12-22) 작곡가들이 뽑은 올해의 걸작 ‘아브라카다브라’ This year's masterpieces selected by composers (in Korean) Daum / Ilgan Sports
- ↑ (2009.03.12) (쿠키人터뷰) ‘어느 별…’ 이민수 작곡가 “표절의 유혹은 달콤하지만…” (Kuki interview 'A star...' Composer Lee Min-su "Temptation of plagiarism is sweet, but..." Kookmin Ilbo
- 1 2 3 (Korean) 브아걸 "당당한 섹시미로 독기 품었죠" (Brown Eyed Girls: "Strong Sexiness Led to Malicious Remarks"). SBS News. July 31, 2009. Retrieved August 31, 2009.
- ↑ (Korean) [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.
- ↑ (Korean) 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.
- 1 2 3 Kim, Min-ju (김민주) (2009.08.04) ‘아브라카다브라’ 뮤비의 일등공신, 황수아 감독 interview (in Korean) TVian
- ↑ (Korean) 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.
- ↑
- ↑ 황수아 Cine21
- ↑ (Korean) 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.
- 1 2 (Korean) 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.
- ↑ (Korean) `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.
- ↑ (Korean) ‘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.
External links
| ||||||||||||||||||||||
