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Brhianna Genereux

Caroline Reynolds

English 1201-151

26 January 2022

“What is Love” Comparison

Many people know that within the music business songs can be sung by different artists

and there can be many different versions of those songs available. What a lot of people don't

know is that those different versions of the songs can have different meanings and be directed

toward different audiences. "What is Love" with its different renditions sung by Haddaway and

Jaymes Young and their videos, have two completely different meanings behind them, but have

the same lyrics within them. Haddaway’s song is more upbeat and based on a lust perspective,

while Young’s version focuses on the death of his wife and has more of a sad feeling associated

with it. Haddaway and Jaymes Young both use the song "What Is Love" in two different ways

and directed them to two different audiences with a common goal of expressing the love that

they feel.

Haddaway and Young both used pathos in different ways throughout their videos. One

way Haddaway uses pathos is by creating an elaborate and ominous setting. Haddaway's video

produced in 1993, is set in an old, creepy mansion. Throughout the mansion, you'll find props

that influence the ominous aspect even more. Props such as old statues and lots of candles to

shine within the dim lighting. The setting and props make you feel frightened even though you

are behind the safety of your screen. Haddaway also introduces characters such as a woman

vampire which makes the video even more spooky. The vampire and the other women

Haddaway placed throughout the video all have very little clothing on which gives you the
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lustful tone that he was trying to portray. Young's video produced in 2018, used of pathos was

very different and maybe a little more effective when it comes to making you feel something.

Young also used the setting to portray pathos. For example the setting of the hospital after the

accident, and how dim and gloomy the room felt. The setting of the cemetery where he put his

wife to rest, even though it was outside the cemetery still had a gloomy effect. Young also uses

pathos when showing flashbacks of memories before his wife had passed to make you feel how

strong their connection was and to make you feel how much he missed her. Young also slowed

down the song which gave it the effect of being more heartfelt.

The audience that both Haddaway and Young were trying to appeal to were similar yet

very different. Haddaway's video is directed more at people who have felt the pain of loving

someone but not being loved by them back. He made the video very lustful by adding women in

minimal clothing. Which made the video more directed to people who are attracted to women.

Young's video was more directed to people dealing with the loss of a loved one or just the loss of

love in general. Young's video also radiates sorrow, love, and pain. These things make the

audience he was trying to appeal to even more so prevalent. Even though they have different

audiences they still have a common goal that they are trying to show their audiences.

Both Haddaway and Young's versions still have the common goal of expressing love.

While Haddaway's video is more upbeat and has a more lustful aspect the main point of the

video is to express the feeling of loving someone who does not love you back. In his video, you

have to look past all of the gimmicks and lustful images to get to the unrequited love aspect.

With Young's version, the point of the video is more on the surface and easier to find. Young uses

many different aspects to show you that the main point of the video is to show the pain and
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heartache that goes with losing someone you love. While it might be in different ways, both the

videos and versions of the song still express love.

Haddaway and Jaymes Young use the song "What Is Love" with pathos in their videos in

different ways, and directed them toward two different audiences, but still had a similar goal of

expressing the love that they feel. As you can see the videos although seemingly very different

both still had the feeling of love being pushed toward their viewers. Even though the targeted

audiences for the videos were different they got each of their points across one way or another.

Both artists obviously had different visions but still had pathos throughout the song and videos

that made the point they were trying to prove even stronger. Next time you come across two

different versions of a song and their videos maybe take an interest and look past your initial

thoughts of them.
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Works Cited

Hannwacker, Volker. What Is Love. YouTube, 18 June 2014,

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

Dung, Phan. What Is Love-Jaymes Young (Cinematic Video). YouTube, 27 Apr. 2019,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIvvHKp0JNI.