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Maddox Roy

Mrs. De Gruy

Composition II

October 24, 2021

The Application of Rhetoric to Influence Purpose

Rhetoric is used in everyday life from newspapers and magazines, to movies and

commercials. The reason rhetoric is so popular is because it is the best technique to persuade the

reader or viewer to understand a story how the writer or speaker wants them to understand it.

This is none more prevalent than in songs and music videos. In this paper, the two songs that will

be analyzed are “What is Love,” by Haddaway, and a cover of “What is Love,” by Jaymes

Young. The first edition of the song by Haddaway was produced in 1992 and originally released

in Germany. This upbeat song tells a story about a tough relationship Haddaway is in that seems

to only result in pain and strife. On the complete other end of the spectrum, the 2013 cover of

“What is Love,” by Jaymes Young can be found. This devastating, slow song explains the story

of a husband who lost his wife in a fatal car crash. Rhetoric is used in both songs, but especially

used in the music videos. These two videos have majority of the same lyrics, but since the use of

rhetoric is different, so is the audience and purpose. The original Haddaway version is meant for

a person in a toxic, difficult relationship, where the Jaymes Young version is meant for someone

who has lost a significant other or loved one.

First, the Haddaway version. This song was written by Haddway's producers, Dee Dee

Halligan and Junior Torello in 1992. As the story goes, Haddaway was singing demos in the

basement of Coconut Studios, when he was requested to sing “What is Love.” This single was
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quickly released the same year. After becoming a massive hit, it was picked up by records in two

more countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. This song quickly took off in these

countries as well, reaching an astounding peak position of number two in the United Kingdom

and number eleven in the United States. This success was largely due to the promotion of the

song on many famous platforms, such as Saturday Night Live (Songfacts).

In this song, Haddaway and the video producers flawlessly use pathos in an appeal to

emotion. The video contributes to the theme of being confused and scared by love all throughout

the duration. For example, the setting is in what seems to be a haunted house with an abundance

of costumes and flashing lights (CoconutMusicGermany). During the video, it is confusing for

the watcher to see what is going on because of the flashing lights, fast camera movements, and

quick scene switches. In addition, the setting of a haunted house leads to what Haddaway is

trying to show about the scary part of love. This is crucial to the development of not only the

video's theme, but to the appeal of emotion. Being scared and confused by love is a widely

agreed upon feeling from a specific audience. Therefore, this appeal directly shows the audience,

which is people who are hurt from love and do not understand it, and the purpose, which is for

this video to find those people and relate with them and their feelings.

Although Haddaway’s music video focuses on pathos, an important appeal to logic is also

seen. All throughout the video, many scenes are in reverse, showing Haddaway walking

backwards. This displays that he wishes he could go back to reverse the pain that has been

caused by his love. Much like the pathos appeal, this relates to the audience and shows the

purpose even further. Logically, when people make a mistake, especially with love, they wish to

undo it. Therefore, the audience who is likely in a bad situation because of love can relate to this

wish to go back and nullify what has happened.

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The topic of love in music is almost always extremely powerful when perfected, and

Jaymes Young did just that. When it comes to writing about love, Young is no stranger. He has

dozens of love song hits, but none like “What is Love.” In this quote by Young, “I don’t see

myself as one of those sad romantics, but love is the most important thing in the world and the

only way we get anything done. I see it as a pretty important topic to write about” (Morris). He

describes his feelings towards love and its importance in his life. In Young’s 2013 music video, a

husband can be seen losing his wife. This immensely emotional situation was portrayed

accurately and descriptively to contribute to the rhetorical device used.

Obviously, the major appeal in this music video is emotion. Jaymes Young uses pathos to

perfection throughout the entirety of his song. Starting off the video, the husband’s wife dies in a

fatal car crash. As the video progresses, the husband grows to become mentally unstable which is

shown by the hallucinations and random breakdowns. The husband in the video constantly sees

his wife in public and reminisces on memories they have. The extremeness of losing a loved one,

and especially a significant other, can resonate with a large audience who have had the same

experience. This is something that immediately insinuates an emotional connection with the

viewer, leading to the video's purpose and audience. The intended audience of this song is people

who have not necessarily lost someone due to a crash, but people who have lost anyone they held

close to their heart. Continuing into the purpose of the video, Jaymes Young is trying to connect

with the intended audience to let them know they are not alone and empathize with them.

Although the two songs share extreme similarities, including the title, they have a stark

contrast in audience in purpose. They have many of the same lyrics, but both convey a different

message about love. The fast, upbeat style song by Haddaway uses many forms of rhetoric and

other devices to contribute to the meaning, which is a confused guy who is in love with a girl that
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does not want him back and is always hurting him. Whereas Jaymes Young uses rhetoric and

slow style of music to explain his sad situation of losing a significant other. In the end, both

situations truly leave the audience questioning, “What is Love?”

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Works Cited

“Haddaway - What Is Love [Official].” YouTube, uploaded by CoconutMusicGermany, 18 June

2014, Haddaway - What Is Love [Official] - YouTube. Accessed October 24, 2021.

Morris, Jessie. “The Most Important Thing Jaymes Young Will Ever Learn.” Interview

Magazine, 16 Oct. 2014, www.interviewmagazine.com/music/jaymes-young. Accessed

October 24, 2021.

Songfacts. “What Is Love by Haddaway - Songfacts.” Song Meanings at Songfacts, (n.d.),

www.songfacts.com/facts/haddaway/what-is-love. Accessed October 24, 2021.

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

2019, What is Love - Jaymes Young (Cinematic Video) - YouTube. Accessed October

24, 2021.