STEVE MILLER BAND - ABRACADABRA

Released : May 1982

Charted:  UK: #2   US: #1 (2 weeks)

"Abracadabra" is a song by American rock group the Steve Miller Band, written by Steve Miller. The song was released as the first single from the 1982 album of the same name that year. This is the biggest hit of Steve Miller's career to date.

"Abracadabra" was the last US Top 40 hit for the Steve Miller Band, and their third #1, following "The Joker" and "Rock 'N' Me." The song got plenty of airplay, but couldn't fill arenas for Miller, who was falling out of favor. "We were considered a dinosaur group," he told The Word regarding this period. "Punk was in, new wave, the hair bands - the guys in the green tights and two-foot hairdos - it seemed at the time that our run was over." The group was only drawing a few thousand fans to their big arena shows, marking the end of their run as a huge concert draw. Miller took six years off from touring, but resumed again in 1988 ("I was just bored to tears," he said). By this time, he had entered the realm of classic rock, and was once again filling arenas. Over the next few decades, he kept a consistent but reasonable touring schedule, playing about 50 shows a year, mostly in the US.

"Abracadabra" is a fun and playful love song about the feeling of being completely enchanted by someone. The lyrics use the metaphor of magic to describe the intensity of the singer's attraction to the subject of the song. The chorus, "Abra-abra-cadabra, I wanna reach out and grab ya, abra-abra-cadabra, Abracadabra," is a play on the words of a magic spell, emphasizing the singer's desire to connect physically with their love interest. Throughout the song, the singer is portrayed as being completely under the spell of their lover, consumed by the passion and desire they feel. The repeated lyric, "I heat up, I can't cool down, my situation goes 'round and 'round," reflects the overwhelming nature of their emotions. The verses of the song describe the physical sensations the singer experiences when their lover is around - they burn with desire, feel magic in their caress, and can't resist the touch of their velvet glove.

The video was the first that Miller made. One of most low-profile frontmen in rock, Miller stayed out of the spotlight and was rarely seen in public off the stage, but in 1982 MTV was becoming a force and you needed a video to sell records. Miller was never going to be a video star, so this video did a little sleight of hand, playing up the magic theme with magicians performing various tricks. Miller is incognito, wearing sunglasses while playing the guitar and moving in slow motion. The clip was directed by Peter Conn, who was one of the first to integrate computer effects into videos.