Staples 1

Lizzie Staples

Prof. Cook

English 1201.58

26, September 2021

Music Video Analyzation.

“What is Love?” The music videos created by both Jaymes Young and Haddaway

present a story of love and emotion between two characters. Although the tempo and setting in

the videos are extremely different, both artists express the love and vulnerability a man has

toward a woman. Haddaway created his video in a wild and whimsical way. Young created his

video in an emotional way using a slower beat and more personal video. Both songs have that

catchy tune that you can find yourself humming all day.

Haddaway’s version of “What is Love?” presents a man who is afraid of a wild woman

that he is in love with. The video provides evidence that shows a man hiding and changing into

a different persona. He says, “Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more.” Near these clips it

shows a woman dressed as a vampire, about to attack the man. This is representing her using

him when she is in need. While this video is showing the man afraid of the woman and the pain

she causes him, Young's video is expressign a grieving loss of his love and their memories. This

video shows a first clip of a car accident where the wife is killed. The man is shown in many

different clips grieving and missing the love he had with his wife. He isn’t hurt physically like

shown in the first video but he is hurt mentally and emotionally. We are provided with evidence

that he is tired of this pain and misses the woman he was in love with for years.

Although the videos are very different, they are similar in many ways. They represent the

same message of how love can hurt, and cause pain. The videos also both contain main

characters of a man and a woman. The characters seemed to be near the same age range

along with the similarity of the male character going through the pain. Both videos have many
 Staples 1
Lizzie Staples

Prof. Cook

English 1201.58

26, September 2021

background characters who help enhance the feeling of the settings. In Haddaway's video, the

characters are dressed in crazy outfits dancing in a large, dark house. The outfits and

characters definitely helped express the scary and high intense settings. In Young's video it

shows a man and woman's life together. The woman was killed in a crash at the beginning of

the video. Through the video we are shown clips of their life together including their wedding,

days they spent together on the beach, and just moments they were happy together. Haddaway

and Young did a good job of including many different characters and settings. Viewers who are

going through grief and upsetting times can relate to these songs. The videos are not

specifically designed for a certain race, age or gender but allows all viewers to receive the same

message.

The music videos that were created, both grab the viewer's attention by using pathos.

Many people can connect to the feeling of being hurt and betrayed like the man in Haddaway's

video felt. The video showed him scared and afraid of being used by the woman. Young’s video

definitely expresses pathos by grieving a loss of not only a loved one but also his best friend.

Many people can relate that love can be a great thing and be a happy part of life but also cause

great pain and can relate to many sensitive parts of life. Both artists did a great job of allowing

the music videos to show how the characters are hurting. Mental pain is just as hurtful as

physical pain can be. We see in Young’s version that the man is not only sad but he is angry

about what he has to go through and miss in his life. Haddaway’s video shows clips of the male

character running and trying his best to get away from the woman. He is tired of being hurt and

used by her powers. The videos grabbed my emotional attention and helped me feel sorry for
 Staples 1
Lizzie Staples

Prof. Cook

English 1201.58

26, September 2021

the characters' pain they were going through. They provided us with clips of grief and fear which

is a common emotion in most people.

Finally we can see that the song “What is Love” by both Haddaway and Jaymes Young

are songs about being in love and having to deal with the consequences even if they are bad.

The artists did a good job getting this message across to the audience and connecting the

feelings to many people's everyday emotions. The videos were entertaining and meaningful

which allowed a nice balance between the different versions. The genres of the songs were

different which also helped create uniqueness between them. Both of these videos were very

well put together and provided clear evidence to their audience.

 Staples 1
Lizzie Staples

Prof. Cook

English 1201.58

26, September 2021

Work Cited

Hannawacker, Volker, director. Haddaway- What Is Love [Official]. YouTube, YouTube, 18

June 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HEXWRTEbj1I. Accessed 1 Oct. 2021.

Chappell, Warner, director. What Is Love- Jaymes Young (Cinematic Video). YouTube,
YouTube, 27 Apr. 2019, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIvvHKp0JNI. Accessed 1 Oct.
2021.