“I Want to Know What Love Is” by Puddles Pity Party

Mark Geier is an American singer from Atlanta, Georgia who has been performing on stage for over twenty years. However, he may best be known for wearing ghastly white makeup and a sad crown upon his head. Through his alter ego Puddles Pity Party, Geier has amassed international fame and a massive following. His videos with Scott Bradlee’s Post Modern Jukebox have garnered millions of views, and he had an iconic moment on the twelfth season of America’s Got Talent. Known for his deep voice and melancholy demeanor, Puddles has done covers of everyone from Lorde to Bowie. His latest release is a cover of Foreigner’s 1984 hit “I Want to Know What Love Is”, and as usual it is an emotional and vocal triumph.

The original song is one of the most enduring rock hits of the 1980’s, and is indubitably ingrained in the fabric of pop culture. Simply put, it’s a jam. This makes covering it harder than covering an unknown song, because the listener will no doubt come in with expectations of what they want to hear. That being said, Puddles easily breaks through whatever expectations you may have about this song, and brings his unique style to the track. His baritone voice accompanied with the sparse, delicate piano give the song a feeling of incredible longing.

The music video sees Puddles enter from the left side of the screen, carrying a small piano that has “Puddles Pity Party” scrawled across it. He’s wearing his iconic outfit, which includes droopy crown, billowy trousers, and a pair of extra large clown-colored chucks. Puddles sets his toy piano down on a box in a circus looking setting, and begins to play. His giant hands dwarf the tiny keys of the piano, but he plays it perfectly anyways. The image of this sad clown is tragic yet beautiful, and really adds another dimension to this cover. Throughout the video, images of dogs wearing Puddles’ crown flash across the screen, and the description let’s us know that these are dogs of fans who asked Puddles to do this song. He ends the video by urging everyone to adopt a furry friend, and find out for themselves what love is.