Abby McKellop

Ms. Sharyn Hunter

English 1201- English Composition 2

1/27/22

Visual Rhetoric: Music Video Comparison

“What is Love?” The title and main lyric of Haddaway’s 1993 hit single is a universal

question. This essay will analyze the rhetorical strategies used to support the main claim of two

separate videos of this well-known song. The official music video of the original song was

published on Youtube in 2014, and shows Haddaway singing from the heart while being

surrounded by provocative-dancing women. A remix version released on Youtube in 2016 only

features the lyric “What is Love?”, and takes a different visual approach. This music video shows

many different couples or groups of people showing love. The original music video of “What is

Love” by Haddaway focuses more on the heartbreak that love can bring, while the remix video

of the same song by Km Music celebrates the beauty of love. While the two songs highlight

different emotions, both videos effectively use the rhetorical strategy of pathos to communicate

the range of powerful emotions that love can bring.

The original song was released in 1993, and when asked about the purpose behind the

song, Haddaway clarified that he simply meant that each person should decide the way that they

define love (Mapes).

The original music video communicates a message of warning about the pain that love

can bring when feelings aren't reciprocated. In the video, there are many beautiful women that
are dancing around the singer, yet when the singer tries to engage with one of the women, it

seems that he is significantly more invested than the woman is. As the words “baby don’t hurt

me, don’t hurt me, no more,” are repeated many times, the viewer can see the emotional toll on

the singer. The combination of imagery and lyric repetition conveys the pain of one-sided love.

This supports the idea that this video is highlighting some of the powerful emotions that love can

evoke, yet the content is more focused on the painful emotions that can come about.

The remix music video takes a much more positive approach, and makes the claim that

love is a beautiful thing that can be shown in many ways. This video focuses on various different

couples and friends, and shows intimate moments between the people. From shots of a girl

laying her head on her partner’s shoulder, to the warm embrace between people, or the loving

gaze into each other’s eyes while sharing laughter, each clip shows a different way that love can

be shown. In this rendition of the song, the only lyric that is used is “What is Love?”, while the

second part of the phrasing “baby don’t hurt me…” is not included. The deliberate lyric choice

allows the words to be interpreted in a more positive way. This supports the idea that this video

is bringing attention to the powerful feelings of infatuation and security that love can bring.

Regardless of the message that is being conveyed in each of the videos, both use the same

rhetorical approach to communicate their claim- pathos. The first video evokes a feeling of

sadness for the lead singer, as he struggles with feeling unseen without the reciprocated feelings

of love. Pathos is in motion here, as the singer is directly connecting with the viewers and the

audience can put themselves in Haddaway’s shoes. In the second video, many sentimental

moments are captured between couples and friends. This imagery may remind the viewer of their
own loved ones, or may bring the longing feeling to experience a love like that shown in the

video. Regardless of the emotion being communicated in the music video, pathos is the main

rhetorical strategy in each video because the imagery is evoking feelings of empathy within the

viewer. This allows the message to resonate deeper with the audience, as the experience feels

more personal.

Both music videos, although communicating slightly different messages about the same

topic, appeal to a similar audience. The audience can be generalized to anyone, as love is a fairly

universal experience. In the original music video, a more specifically-targeted audience may be

people who have been in unhealthy relationships or have felt the pain of the lack of reciprocity of

feelings in any relationship. As this video seems to communicate a possible warning, another

intended audience may be younger people, as the video is communicating about some of the

conditions of unhealthy relationships. The remix music video has a more widespread audience,

and similar to the audience of the first video, the message can be expanded to anyone. But

similarly, the message that appreciates the beauty of love will likely resonate stronger with an

audience that has experienced love and intimacy.

Visual rhetoric is a powerful tool that can be used to communicate a message- it can bring

another dimension to words by providing a visual representation that a viewer can connect with.

In these music videos, the primary rhetorical strategy used is pathos. This strategy appeals to

emotions, invoking empathy from the audience and fostering a personal connection with the

message being communicated. This essay focused on the similarities and differences between the

messages being communicated by the original, 2014 music video of “What is Love” by
Haddaway and a remix version of the same song released in 2016. Both music videos

communicate different messages about love- the former focusing on the pain of one-sided

relationships and the latter on the beauty of genuine love. Although each video has a different

claim, both effectively utilize pathos to describe the range of strong emotions that love can bring.
 Works Cited

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

2014, https://youtu.be/HEXWRTEbj1I

“Haddaway- What is Love (Remix).” Youtube, uploaded by Km Music, 29 August 2016,

https://youtu.be/2ufdDyDgg60

Mapes, Jillian. “We Asked Haddaway ‘What Is Love?’ and Here’s What He Said.” Flavorwire.
12 February 2015.
https://www.flavorwire.com/504266/we-asked-haddaway-what-is-love-heres-what-he-sai
d