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“Abracadabra” (“Abracadabra,” 1992); in
Silvio, 1992

Afro-Cuban religions such as santería have weathered a long history of persecution and repression, with practioners having suffered police raids, arrests, and unsubstantiated accusations into the twentieth century. Even after the Revolution, practitioners continued to suffer harrassment and vandalism, while government publications continued to characterize it as backward and pathological into the 1970s (Moore 2006: 209-211). Attitudes toward the African heritage in Cuban culture, including Afro-Cuban religions, began to soften during the 1970s and 1980s following Cuba’s involvement in the Angolan War.  In the Special Period, all religions, but especially Afro-Cuban ones, saw a boom as state policies toward religion were further relaxed, while many people turned to religion during difficult times (Moore 2006: 219-20, de la Fuente 2001: 333-4).

“Abracadabra” could be interpreted as an outgrowth of this boom in religious practices during this time of increasing desperation; more explicitly, Rodríguez intended it to be a critique of the use of beliefs and powers to inflict harm on others. As he writes humorously in the introduction to the song,

Hace unos meses vinieron a casa unos amigos y me alertaron sobre todo tipo de hechizos siniestros que amenazaban cada rincón de mi existencia. Ante tal peligro no tuve otro recurso que elaborar este sortilegio de resguardo.^[1]

Fig. 17-“Abracadabra,” Lyrics and chord chart

The opening verse describes two rivals attempting to hurt each other, one burying a coconut covered in carmine, while another sticks pins into a heart (Ex. 17A).  While this verse has a melody that is best described as C dorian, its harmonies rock back and forth between those beloging to C major and Eb major, the relative major to C minor. In the orbit of C major are the harmonies of F, G, and by modal mixture, D; in the Schenker diagram (Fig. 17B), these harmonies are shown with the note stem on the soprano line pointing up and that of the bass line pointing down, and with the note stem pointing upwards in the “chords” section to the right of the diagram.

Ex. 17A – “Abracadabra,” Verse

Ex. 17B-“Abracadabra,” Verse, Schenker diagram

In the orbit of Eb major is Ab major; these harmonies are shown with the stem pointing upwards in the bass. The melody on the Eb-Ab axis coincidentally falls on the lower end of Rodríguez’s range and therefore as alto-line notes on this graph, with the stem pointing down. The constant shifting between these two orbits provides an unstable feeling that is exaggerated in the second half of the verse, in the tritone shift in the bass from D to Ab. The use of Eb and Ab (rather than, say, Em and Am) transform what would have been a conventional I-ii-vi-IV-V-I progression to a confusing juxtaposition of major and minor--the harmonic equivalent of dizziness under a spell. The melody, too, floats; it is essentially circular, starting on C and returning to C for the cadence, while the alto-line melody circles around G. 

Rodríguez’s own views are expressed in the pre-chorus and chorus sections. In the pre-chorus, he makes critical comments on those who are willing to use such means to invoke harm on others (“Yo no sé/cómo hay quien malversa la vida/ cómo hay quien invoca una herida”), particularly given difficult times (“como si nos sobraran las cenas”). The melody here is in mixolydian rather than dorian, as E natural is now in the melody; the Eb chord, retained from the opening, is incorporated into a series of plagals that resolve to the tonic.

Rodríguez takes a more sympathetic stance in the chorus (Ex. 17C), where he acknowledges that bad times and desperation may be contributing to reliance on such beliefs (“Yo no sé/ si el mal tiempo trae mala fe”); in the second iteration of the chorus, he seems to be charming the sorceress out of ill spells.  This chorus is unambiguously in C major (except for the Bb, which leads into the subdominant preparing the final cadence), and this clarity of tonality, underlining his views, provides a contrast against the shifting harmonies describing the magical powers.

Ex. 17C-“Abracadabra,” Chorus

Similarly, the contour of the melodies in the verse vs. the chorus enhances this musical depiction of magic vs. reality.  While the melody in the verse undulates, that of the chorus contains several runs up the scale (Fig. 14C, mm.7-9, 19-21) and down it (mm.9-13, 29-30), leaving no ambiguity as to the tonal center. From these notes, one could construct an Urlinie^[2] with a 5-1 descent—a contrast with the circular melody of the verse (Ex. 17D). Furthermore,  this Urlinie is supported by a V-I cadence, confirming this tonal clarity.  .Hence, Rodríguez uses two musical metaphors to contrast superstition against his views: harmonic and melodic clarity.

Ex.  17D-“Abracadabra,” Chorus, Schenker diagram

That is, except for a little twist. A Bb (bVII) prepares the final cadence by leading into V (G) via IV (F). While bVII before a cadence is not unusual in Rodríguez’s music (or rock), the chord does come as a surprise after a long passage unambiguously in C major. The tritone move in the bass (E-Bb) recalls the tritone (D-Ab) in the verse. Not all the spells are shaken, and the song ends on a recapitulation of the verse. 

• [1] “A few months ago, some friends came to my house and alerted me about all the types of sinister spells that threatened every corner of my existence. Before such danger, I had no other recourse but to produce this spell of protection.”
• [2] In Schenkerian analysis, the conceptual reduction of the principal melodic voice, descending from the fifth or third scale degree to the first.