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Payton Layne

Professor Leonard

English 1201

14 February 2020

What is Love?

Love is confusing. Love is an emotion that humans get when they have a strong affection

for someone or something. While many people think of love as a good thing, love can be scary.

Sometimes loves ends happily, but other times, love ends in hurt and heartbreak. People do not

understand why they love certain things, often it just happens. Curiosity of such an emotion

raises the question, what is love? The question is answered separately in the two songs, “What is

Love” by Haddaway and the cover “What is Love” by Jaymes Young as they use different music

styles to convey two different ideas about love.

The original song, "What is Love" by Haddaway, is a very upbeat song with lots of

dancing. Haddaway is the main character who spends most of the video singing and dancing in a

mansion. Often in the video, a girl would also start dancing with him. Along with the singing and

dancing, the phrase, “What is love? Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. No more.” is repeated

many times throughout the song. While the phrase itself may lead the audience to believe the

singer is scared to get hurt again, the upbeat music and dancing say otherwise. Instead,

Haddaway views love as a good thing and not something to be scared of.

In contrast to the original, the remix version, “What is Love” by Jaymes Young, is slow

paced and has a much more serious tone. While the lyrics are almost entirely the same, the more

serious tone and slow rhythm allows the audience to really get the message behind the lyrics.

Similar to the original, the phrase, “What is love? Baby don’t hurt me. Don’t hurt me. No more.”
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is repeated multiple times. However, Young sings the verse with a hurting tone to his voice

which illustrates love as a scary thing, completely opposite of what Haddaway does.

In addition to the different music styles, the music videos demonstrate different effects

love can have. In the original, Haddaway is dancing throughout a mansion with different girls.

Dancing is a rhythmic way of expressing an emotion which in this case Haddaway is doing to

express how happily in love he is. This implies to the listener that love is a good thing. However,

the remix by James Young does not depict love positively. In the remix, the main character loses

his wife in the beginning. The video then follows the life of the man who constantly has

flashbacks of good times he spent with his wife. In between the flashbacks, the man is shown

crying, yelling at himself, and breaking things in his house. This man is obviously heartbroken at

what happened to his wife and angry at the world. This implies that love is not always easy

especially when someone that is loved is taken away. The purpose of each video is not to

convince the listener that love is only good or only bad, but to show a side of love. The original

by Haddaway shows the good side of love, happiness and joy, while the remix shows the bad

side of love, hurt and heartbreak.

The different sides of love also apply to different audiences. The original by Haddaway is

intended for most people in general, especially those currently in love. The happy vibes and

upbeat music are very catchy and there is no question why it was and still is one of the most

popular songs across the world. Differently, the cover song is not intended for everyone in love

but instead those who are going through a breakup. The sad story and slow music allows for

people going through heartbreak to connect with the song. Despite the differences, both songs

have a common audience which is those dealing with love regardless of what side their currently

on.
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In their attempts to describe love, both artists rely heavily on their use of pathos. In the

original, Haddaway describes love through dancing and upbeat music which emotionally makes

the listener feel good about love and the happiness it can bring. Similarly, Jaymes Young uses

his music style to emotionally appeal to his listeners. However, instead of upbeat music, Young

describes love through the slow rhythm of his song and the hurting in his voice. This emotionally

makes the listener feel bad for the singer and feel scared of what love can do. Despite their

different viewpoints of love, both songs depend on their emotion connection with listeners to get

their message across.

As people go on with their lives, there will be a time when they love someone. That love

will bring a set of ideas and emotions with it including happiness, heartbreak, or both. “What is

Love” by Haddaway and the cover “What is Love” by Jaymes Young use different music styles

and videos to convey these two different ideas about love. Haddaway shows the happiness love

can bring, and Jaymes Young sings about the heartbreak of love. All in all, both songs do a very

good job of describing their idea of love.

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Works Cited

“Haddaway - What is Love [Official].” YouTube, uploaded by CoconutMusicGermay, 14 June

2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXWRTEbj1I.

“What is Love – Jaymes Young (Cinematic Video).” YouTube, uploaded by bonD, 28 April

2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIvvHKp0JNI.