Abracadabra

Abracadabra is an incantation used as a magic word in stage magic tricks, and historically was believed to have healing powers when inscribed on an amulet.

Etymology

The word may have its origin in the Aramaic language, but numerous conflicting folk etymologies are associated with it.

The word Abracadabra may derive from an Aramaic phrase meaning "I create as I speak." or from the Greek "Αύρα κατ' αύρα" meaning "from Αura to Aura". This etymology is dubious, however, as אברא כדברא in Aramaic is more reasonably translated "I create like the word." In the Hebrew language, אברא translates as "I will create" and כדברא "as spoken". The second lexeme in this supposedly Aramaic phrase might be a noun given the presence of the definite article on the end of the word (it cannot be an infinitive construct, as the infinitive cannot take the definite article). Regardless, this phrase would actually be pronounced ebra kidbara, which is clearly different from abracadabra.

"[A]bracadabra may comprise the abbreviated forms of the Hebrew words Ab (Father), Ben (Son) and Ruach A Cadsch (Holy Spirit), though an alternative derivation relates the word to Abraxas, a god with snakes for feet who was worshipped in Alexandria in pre-Christian times." David Pickering's description of the word as an abbreviation from Hebrew is also a false etymology—as he apparently here means Aramaic (בר is Aramaic for "son", it is בן in Hebrew, although בר is an honorific form), nor does he account for the final five letters (i.e., -dabra) in the lexeme.

Ayúdame

"Ayúdame" (English: Help Me) is the third single to be released from Paulina Rubio's 2006 Spanish language album Ananda, following the relatively mild success of second single "Nada Puede Cambiarme".

The Song

The song was written by Coti Sorokin and Paulina Rubio herself. It is the first single since 1996's "Enamorada" to be co-written by Paulina. Rubio said in an interview that although she wrote this love song with her friend Coti, it can also have a second meaning and can be applied to global warming. The song entered the U.S. Billboard Hot Latin Songs chart in the second half of May 2007 after Paulina had launched her U.S. Amor, Luz y Sonido Tour 2007.

On 29 May 2007, Paulina performed "Ayúdame" on the Mi TRL show on the MTV Tr3s network. The show was aired on Thursday, 31 May 2007, making it Paulina's first performance of "Ayúdame" on television. The song was also included in the setlist for her Amor, Luz y Sonido Tour 2007.

Music video

Paulina recorded the music video in Puerto Rico on April 24, 2007. Paulina announced in an interview she would be premiering the music video the last week of May, 2007. The video was premiered on May 30, 2007 on the Ritmoson Latino network.