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Brooke Thompson

Mr. Freeland

English Composition 2

13 February 2022

Song Comparison

The song “What Is Love” by Haddaway is an upbeat song with a very action-packed

music video. On the other hand, the Jaymes Young version of “What is love”, is the complete

opposite. This version of the song takes a completely different approach to Haddaway's original

lyrics. "What Is Love" by Haddaway and Jaymes Young use the same lyrics, in different tones,

to reach two completely different audiences. The version sung by Jaymes Young is a slower song

that presents a lot of pain whereas the original song sung by Haddaway, unveils an upbeat music

video and song with a happier tone.

In the original video of the song sung by Haddaway, there are many props used that all

seem very random. The objects don't appear to have much meaning. The colors are very vibrant

which fits the time period in which the video was created. The main character is a black man that

sings most of the lyrics. He is in most scenes of the video and is the artist that sings the original

song. The video takes place in an old Victorian house. There is a lot of smoke, flashing lights

and women dancing around that all give off a very confusing atmosphere to the song. The artist

uses doesn't seem to use pathos, ethos, or logos in this video. There are no scenes found in the

video appealing to one's emotions, using any logic, or giving facts or reasoning. The intended

audience for this song is people who are struggling with relationships. The audience may be

struggling to understand the true feeling of love. This song is very upbeat so it is enjoyable to

listen to but continuously repeats the lyric “what is love”. This lyric helps support the claim of
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this video which is, no one really knows what love is. There are many ways of interpreting it

and so the main character asking all of these objects and people the question of “what is love” is

to prove the point that no one or nothing really knows.

This version of “What Is Love” created by Jaymes Young was made in 2019 and contains

the American actor Jake Gyllenhaal. He is the main character in this music video. The video

comes across as very depressing. The colors are very dark and are set in a gloomy street setting.

He gets into a car accident and loses his wife which is the main event that happens in the video.

The whole video is then taken as the memories from before the accident. The artist uses pathos to

really appeal to the intended audience. The way that the main character is losing someone so

close, is a way for the audience to connect emotionally. The video takes place in what looks like

the city. The music style is very calm and emotional. The target audience are the people who are

mourning a loss, or who are feeling alone. The main claim that the video is making is that

mourning is not easy and it is hard to feel alone when losing someone close to you.

“What is love” by Haddaway and Jaymes Young contain the same lyrics, but are very

different. The music styles of the songs are the first difference you will find when listening to

both versions of the song.. The version sung by Haddaway is very cheerful while the version

sung by Jaymes Young is very somber. A huge difference between the videos is the singing of

the songs. Haddway sings most of the song himself and has background artists as well, but they

are mostly used for dancing. Jaymes Young used more of a cinematic style to create his music

video. It was snippets of a movie that he thought related very well to the tone of his version of

the song. The two versions of the songs did contain the same lyrics, but were mixed in the order

of the lyrics. Each song's lyrics went with what was going on in each of the music videos. The

target audience for both versions were very different due to the tones of the songs. The way that
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Haddway repeated “what is love” to random objects made it seem like he was searching for an

answer. He was targeting people who feel lost in relationships and felt alone in the world.

Jaymes Young's version of the song focused more on the mourning of the main character's tragic

accident. After his wife passed, he lost the true meaning of love. The target audience for the

newer version was people who are struggling to actually understand love and are maybe

mourning the loss of a loved one.

“What is love” by Haddaway and Jaymes Young are two very well written songs, each

with their own meaning. Each artist takes a very different approach to each version which really

shows their personal interpretation of the lyrics. The way that each artist interprets the lyrics, is

what sets the tone for both music videos. Each artist used the tones of each video to reach their

target audience. The two versions of “What is Love'' are able to reach two completely different

audiences, with the same set of lyrics.

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Works Cited

Haddaway, Nestor. “What Is Love.”,1993, IMVDb. https://imvdb.com/video/haddaway/what-is-

love

Young, Jaymes. “What Is Love.” , April 28 2019, Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=nIvvHKp0JNI