Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra" Lyrics Have A Hidden Meaning In Latin
My paws have simply never been more up.
There’s an extra morsel of magic in Lady Gaga’s latest single that you might not have picked up on at first. Though the “Abracadabra” chorus may sound like the infectious gibberish that Gaga first made a trademark in her 2009 hit “Bad Romance,” there’s actually a deeper meaning to the sounds. Not only that, they also hide a super clever reference to “Bad Romance.”
True to its name, “Abracadabra” isn’t just a song; it’s also a hex. “The song has a spell in it,” Gaga revealed to Elle after its Feb. 2 release. The enchantment being cast by the “lady in red” is meant to represent the “negative backtalk” in one’s head when life gets hard, Gaga explained. The song and its video are Gaga’s attempts to defy this magical curse. “In the video I'm fighting against it with everything,” she said. “I'm dancing against it, I'm singing against it. I'm serving against it.”
The actual spell itself is chanted in the song’s chorus:
“Abracadabra, amor-ooh-na-na / Abracadabra, morta-ooh-ga-ga / Abracadabra, abra-ooh-na-na" / In her tongue she said, "Death or love tonight"
The piece of witchcraft makes use of Latin — “amor” and “morta” are derived from the Latin words for “love” and “death,” respectively. Even more magical, “amor” backwards is “roma,” the chant that Gaga frequently repeated in “Bad Romance.”
Many fans were quick to point out the similarities between “Abracadabra” and Gaga’s The Fame Monster and Born This Way era, noting that the dark-pop sound easily meshes with beloved early releases like “Judas” and “Bad Romance.” Thematically, it also sounds like Gaga is returning to her Mother Monster aesthetics with her upcoming album Mayhem.
“The song is about facing the challenge of life and the challenge of the night and finding the magic in it all,” Gaga said, describing “Abracadabra.” The word choice will stand out to longtime Gaga fans as a potential reference to her Born This Way opener “Marry the Night.”
Gaga will fully unleash her Mayhem when the new album drops on March 27.
