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Tyler Khamis

Lisa Tyler

ENG 1201

14 February 2021

Two Versions of “What is Love”

The 1993 hit “What is Love” by Haddaway will always have a special place in my heart.

It’s incredibly catchy and it never gets old, even though the lyrics are few and far between.

Jaymes Young made an alternate version of the song that used pretty much the exact same lyrics,

but still managed to have a completely different vibe. Haddaway’s version of “What is Love”

was an instant classic with simple lyrics about relationship difficulties and a retro dance video to

accompany it; Jaymes Young’s version has virtually the same lyrics with a softer tone, and the

cinematic video by Phan Dung tells a much bigger story about a relationship in crisis.

When the original version of “What is Love” came out in 1993, it took the world by

storm. According to songfacts.com, “In the UK, it made #2 in June 1993, and in the US it

reached its #11 peak position in October 1993.” (songfacts 1) on the charts. The lyrics describe a

desire for that special someone to simply love back. Haddaway sings “baby don’t hurt me, no

more”, but it’s no use and because he doesn’t receive the love he desires, he “can’t go on”. These

lyrics are pretty heavy, but the music itself, and the video that accompanies it have much more of

a “club” feel. The video starts with Haddaway eyeing a woman and they are both dancing in a

big mansion. There are sections in the video that are in reverse, usually of the woman coming

back to him, or leaving him. The claim the video makes is that love sometimes doesn’t work out
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even when you want it to, and this hurts. The reasoning is that he gives his love and the woman

he wants “doesn’t care” (Haddaway). The evidence the video and song give to support the claim

simply consists of imagery of a woman leaving and Haddaway seeming distressed. The only

appeal in the song and video is pathos because there is no evidence or credible sources; the video

and song create an emotional reaction in the viewer through sexual appeal, and by making the

viewer feel sad about the love that just wasn’t meant to be. The target audience of the video is

anyone who likes 90s dance music but people who would really respond to the music video are

more specific. That audience consists of people who value love with a significant other very

much and maybe experienced pain caused by the pursuit of that. People who respond to sexual

appeals (especially young men) and are part of a culture that beleives sex is an important and

normal part of life (western culture) are also part of the intended audience.

Jaymes Young’s cover of the song has a much slower and more emotional tone to it. I felt

more “sad” emotions when viewing the cinematic video by Phan Dung. There were much more

storytelling and visual aspects in this interpretation. The video begins with a couple in the car

when the woman says “‘not my problem’, that’s what you say?...”. The man in the passenger seat

looks at her and smirks like he thinks that what she said was funny, but she wasn’t kidding.

Suddenly, the man yells “Woah woah woah woa…!” before we see the airbags burst out and

glass fly in front of him, and the video begins. After it fades from black we see the man in the

hospital badly injured and he is looking at the woman who seemingly died in the accident and it

is extremely blurry. We see him in a few different places looking greatly distressed and regretful

about what happened. He is at a cemetery where his wife is presumably buried. We see a

flashback of their wedding before all of this happened and then it contrasts with him alone
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looking at himself in the mirror with the same suit he wore, crying. The video then shows more

memories the man has about his wife, such as when they were on the beach acting like the birds

they saw flying across the horizon. The man is devastated. He is on a train with his face against

the window remembering a time when they were together at home just laying with each other.

Moments like these never seem very significant when they are happening but, after a loss like the

one he is experiencing, these moments are some of the hardest to let go. He is brought back to

reality by the noise of the train tracks, and the video ends. The main claim of the video is that

one lapse of judgement or action of carelessness can lead to unimaginable pain and loss. The

reason that the video provides is that one argument where a man decided to act cocky and not

hear his wife out led to the death of his wife, and a burden that will be with that man for the rest

of his life. The evidence that is provided is simply the different scenes of either happiness before

what happened, or sadness and pain after the tragedy. The appeals of the video all fall under

pathos because they are there to invoke an emotional reaction instead of providing evidence or

credibility. The sad and shocking imagery brings up strong emotions in the viewer, and the

memories bring a contrast of emotion to add to those feelings. The intended audience for this

video consists of people who could see themselves in the situation that the man is in. Maybe the

audience has had something similar happen to them, or at least has had an argument with

someone they cared about. The audience is most likely female because men are less prone to

enjoy videos like this one. The culture of the intended audience is likely American because

relationships, and relationship problems are a big part of American culture. This video is likely

meant for a young adult audience, because older generations would likely not respond as well.
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In conclusion, the two musical interpretations of “What is Love” and the videos that

accompany them have the same lyrics, but manage to create a much different atmosphere. The

original by Haddaway and the cover by Jaymes Young share the same message of yearning for

love that is not reciprocated, and the feelings that arise due to this. The music videos however,

are different from each other in almost every way. The original video by Haddaway has much

more of a dance and party tone, with hints of what the lyrics are referencing. In sharp contrast,

the video by Phan Dung with the modern cover of the song contains a deep story of love and loss

that invokes heavy emotions of sadness. Even though the songs are virtually identical (aside

from different people singing them) they have completely different personalities and feelings

associated with them.

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Works Cited

Dung, Phan, director. ​What Is Love - Jaymes Young (Cinematic Video).​ ​Youtube,​ BonD, 28

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

“Haddaway - What Is Love [Official].” Performance by Haddaway, ​Youtube​,

CoconutMusicGermany, 28 Apr. 2019,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXWRTEbj1I.

“What Is Love.” ​ShieldSquare Captcha​, www.songfacts.com/facts/haddaway/what-is-love.