If you were watching the 2025 Grammy Awards, you probably remember that weird, electric jolt during a commercial break. No, it wasn't a trailer for a new horror movie. It was Lady Gaga dropping the Abracadabra video right into our laps. One minute we're watching award speeches, and the next, we're staring at a red-cloaked Gaga presiding over a basement dance-off that feels like a cross between a fever dream and a 1990s underground rave.
People immediately started theorizing. Is it a sequel to Disease? Is she finally bringing back the "Mother Monster" era? Honestly, the answer is way more personal than just a callback to her old hits.
The Abracadabra video isn't just about flashy visuals or "Club Gaga" vibes. It’s the visual centerpiece of her seventh studio album, Mayhem, and it tackles a specific kind of internal warfare that most fans didn't see coming.
Why the Abracadabra video matters for LG7
Most pop stars release a video, and it’s just a cool piece of content. With Gaga, it’s usually a manifesto. This time around, she teamed up with choreographer Parris Goebel—who you might know from Rihanna’s Super Bowl show—and director Bethany Vargas to build a world that feels both massive and claustrophobic.
The video centers on a dance battle. Simple enough, right? Except the battle is between two versions of Gaga: the "Lady in Red" (representing the Mistress of Mayhem) and a version in white that Gaga calls "Virgin Gaga."
It’s basically a high-stakes wrestling match with your own self-doubt.
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Gaga told Elle UK that the Lady in Red is the personification of that nasty internal monologue we all have—the voice that asks, "Are you good enough?" or "Can you actually handle this?" In the video, this red-clad figure looks down from a window, basically forcing the "pure" version of herself to dance for her life. It’s a literal "dance or die" scenario.
The connection to Disease and the Mayhem narrative
If you watched the Disease video, you saw Gaga being chased by a car and fighting a dark, tar-coughing version of herself. That was about the torture of being trapped in your own head. The Abracadabra video is the evolution of that story.
Instead of running away, she’s standing her ground.
- Color Palette: The video uses a strict black, white, and red theme.
- The Cast: There are 40 dancers involved, emphasizing that "resilience" isn't a solo sport.
- The Ending: Unlike the dark ending of Disease, this one feels like a victory.
The song itself uses Latin "spells" in the chorus. If you listen closely to the "nonsense" lyrics—amor-ooh-na-na and morta-ooh-ga-ga—you’ll realize she’s playing with the words for love (amor) and death (morta). She isn't just making sounds; she's casting a spell to choose love over the "death" of her creativity. It’s kinda brilliant when you think about it.
Behind the scenes: repurposing the past
One thing that hasn't gotten enough attention is how they actually made the Abracadabra video. In an era where every pop star is obsessed with "more, more, more," Gaga went the sustainability route.
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The costumes? They weren't all custom-made from scratch by luxury houses. A lot of the white outfits worn by the "good" Gaga and her dancers were actually repurposed from old wedding dresses and "deadstock" fabrics from her previous tours. It’s a cool metaphor: she’s literally taking the scraps of her past eras to build something new.
The rehearsal process was intense, too. They spent three weeks in a studio in Santa Monica just to get the choreography right. Parris Goebel wanted the movement to feel "industrial" and "aggressive." It’s not the polished, pretty dancing you see in a lot of modern pop videos. It’s sweaty. It’s frantic. It feels like someone fighting to stay alive on the dance floor.
The Fibromyalgia connection
There’s a deeper layer here that a lot of casual listeners miss. Gaga has been very open about her struggle with fibromyalgia. In the Abracadabra video, some of the choreography is notably "adaptive."
Look at how she moves. It’s sharp, but there’s a sense of her working with her body’s limitations rather than against them. Fans on Reddit have pointed out that the "Lady in Red" often uses a cane—a subtle nod to Gaga's hip injury and the chronic pain that has defined much of her career since 2013.
The title "Abracadabra" itself is a bit of a dark joke for the chronic illness community. One minute you’re fine, and then—poof—you’re in pain. By turning that word into a high-energy dance track, she’s reclaiming the "magic" of her own body.
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How to watch the Abracadabra video like an expert
To really get what’s going on, you have to stop looking at it as a fashion film. You’ve gotta look at the power dynamics.
- Watch the eyes: The Lady in Red has a different gaze than the Gaga on the floor. It’s predatory.
- Listen to the bridge: The music cuts out, and the dancers start attacking Gaga with her own lyrics. This is the moment where the "internal monologue" becomes a physical threat.
- The "Lady in Red" reveal: Note how the "villain" isn't some external monster. It’s just her in a different outfit.
There's a reason why this video hit number one on YouTube almost immediately. It’s because it feels real. Even with the capes and the 40 dancers and the Latin spells, the core of it—fighting the version of yourself that wants you to fail—is something everyone understands.
The Abracadabra video marks a turning point for the Mayhem era. If Disease was the diagnosis, then Abracadabra is the moment she decides to get up and keep moving. It’s not about being "cured"; it’s about being "resilient."
If you want to dive deeper into the LG7 lore, your next step is to watch the "Fan Version" cut that Mastercard released in March. It features contest winners doing the choreography, and it really highlights how the community element Gaga talks about in interviews actually works in practice. After that, go back and re-watch Disease and Abracadabra back-to-back. The narrative arc from "trapped" to "fighting" is pretty undeniable once you see them as a pair.
Next steps for Little Monsters:
Go check out the "Behind the Scenes" featurette released on February 18th. It shows the specific rehearsal footage where Gaga and Parris Goebel break down the "Mistress of Mayhem" persona. Understanding that character is key to figuring out the rest of the Mayhem tracklist.