27 June 1993
Well, you can’t say Haddaway shirks the big philosophical questions. (The B-side was called ‘Where Do Odd Socks Go?’) Not that he gives us an answer or anything. Also, as those of you joining us from Pedants’ Corner are already shouting at your screen, the lack of punctuation in the song title suggests that he isn’t actually posing a question anyway. ‘What Is Love’ is just a dramatic phrase of short words that makes a fast-acting chorus for a big-beat Eurodance single that will be easily absorbed by punters across Europe and beyond.
It works; if you were sentient in the summer of 1993 that chorus has remained lodged in your brain, coiled to spring out like the cuckoo in a clock. There isn’t much else to ‘What Is Love’; the verses are skimmed over before getting to the fun stuff again. But at least Haddaway has a soulful-ish singing voice, which makes him a better listening experience than the gruff barking of his fellow Eurodancers Snap! and Dr Alban. (The female vocalist on ‘What Is Love’ is actually this stock sample from an early-’90s sound effects compilation called Zero-G Datafile One, which still doesn’t answer the question of who that female vocalist is.) Also, let’s keep this in perspective: the thumping beats and thundering chorus of ‘What Is Love’ are its raison d’être. That won’t be a philosophy to everyone’s liking, but at least it’s a philosophy.
