"Who the Hell Is Edgar?" Explanation and Analysis

From the country that brought you "Rock Me Amadeus" comes another playful take on celebrity and the music business.
For a shot-by-shot breakdown of the symbolism in the music video, check out this blog post by friend-of-the-channel Jessica Doyle:
brainsister.com/at-least-it-p...
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Overthinking It subjects the popular culture to a level of scrutiny it probably doesn't deserve.
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[@MatthewWrather]

This is the best Overthinking Eurovision video narrated by someone who is not me!

[@MBelinkie]

SO FAR.

[@recben8023]

You’re both better than any other channel that does this!

[@globalhikingcr]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@hermannivision6222]

I see the ”at least it pays to be funny” as a reference to tiktokers: Short provoking videos with maxium entertainment and zero brain make profit much more than slow-paced art

[@overthinkingit]

That’s pretty good. She gives kind of an exasperated groan after that.

[@hermannivision6222]

@@overthinkingit yeah like the tiktok kids when they need to watch a 3 hour movie: "ugh boring"

[@Sammy_The_Umbreon]

Yeah, i felt this also at a jab to streamers, youtubers, etc and how much they're making

[@dolphinsrkool1]

an extra little fun note about using poe as well, he wasn't super popular in the states during his lifetime, but was relatively more popular in europe where he absolutely would've gotten proper recognition for his writing while he was alive. Which also, kinda, mirrors the fact that a lot of times an artist either makes it big by chance with a different demographic, or their music isn't appreciated until its too late

[@greenivy713]

While there are no references to Poe in the song itself, I think I have spotted some in the office in their official video: On Teya's desk there's a black feather on a paper sheet and in the background a red mask. In a shelf is a bust of Poe, as well a a poster of him on another box behind Teya's desk. On the pinboard there's a poster of "The Raven". On another pinboard behind the co-workers there's also a poster of "The Pit and the Pendulum". At least these are the ones I could find. There are also a lot of pictures of Teya and Salena in the office, as well as a calender, where it seems like the 13th May is marked (=ESC grand final) and the boards for the police photos say Liverpool on them, together with 1305 (13th of May) :D

[@ajmass3916]

While perhaps not intentionally, I also love the fact that "Poe, poe, poe..." sounds an awful lot like they're saying that being songwriters means they will be trapped in poverty (po' being a way to say poor).

[@elinat2414]

This is such a unique and somewhat underrated song for this year! I think it will surprise everyone.

[@Rafaelinux]

What do you mean by undefeated?

[@overthinkingit]

I feel like the live staging will have to be something unique and fun. If they can come up with something that complements the song well, Top 5 is totally doable.

[@Kate-ij6dh]

Since Edgar Allan Poe was a well respected satirist as well as a writer of macabre tales I sort of interpreted the 'at least it pays to be funny' line as being about having to balance the art you want to make with the less fulfilling thing that pays the bills, supported by the frustrated groan that comes immediately after that line. Rather than at the mercy of Poe's ghostly inspiration, they're joking along with him somewhat bitterly: at least it pays to be funny, huh, Edgar? That's what I got from it, at least. This song is one of my top five this year and I'm really glad you covered it! Loving your work as always.

[@MyBroSux24]

While i like the explanation of the color red in the analysis, i thought it would go even further with their choice of outfit. ever since the release of the video, every press photo, every interview, every official outing they go, Teya & Salena have that black/red + white/golden chess look which makes me wonder: Is it just for distinguishing between the two artists, or recognizing them in a crowd? - it almost seems cartoonish to me that Teya has a wardrobe full of black and red clothes and Salena of cream and white.

[@greenivy713]

As Edgar Allen Poe can also be seen as a writer of Gothic fiction, it reminds me of that stereotypical aesthetic: dark vs. bright characters. In gothic literature/media you often find a dark, tormented character and a bright, innocent damsel in distress (some examples in modern works/adaptations: Phantom and Christine in Phantom of the Opera, Thomas and Edith in Crimson Peak, Vanessa and Mina in Penny Dreadul, just to name a few). I don't know if it's intended that way though :D but I love the outfits!

[@JesseKuiper]

1:06 I don't think "westernised" is the proper term in Selena's case. Her actual name is German, which is a pretty western language in my book.

[@overthinkingit]

Fair. I kept the language I used for Azerbaijan but this is a little different.

[@Kumanosuke]

Yea, Austria is literally in Western Europe haha

[@agnishom]

I thing the word you are looking for is anglicized

[@ThomasEntner]

Very good video! However, as an Austrian I can tell you that we do not associate "Poe Poe" with "Popo" (butt) as the pronunciation is too different.

[@evolv.e]

Now when I hear people saying “po-po” in the US as a slang reference to the “police”, I can’t help but think of the Austrian meaning now 😅

[@petru196]

You should overthink Echo by Iru (Georgia), an explanation of whatever she meant by those lyrics would be of great help 😅

[@joebloggs396]

These two songs are likely my top 2

[@weeaboobaby]

Even though it's not the real meaning of the song, the lyrics speak A LOT to me as someone that has impostor syndrome. The whole idea of being possessed by someone else (let alone, someone much more talented and famous) and *them* being the one who writes instead of *you* ("Oh my god you're such a good writer!" "It's not me, it's Edgar") reads as the definition of what impostor syndrome is - and honestly the fact that the song uses cheekiness and humor to tackle the topic of the song only makes this alternative reading all the more better. This song is one of my faves, by far. Catchy AND intelligent, and incredibly well-thought all through from beginning to end, down to the smallest detail. Can't love it anymore❤

[@rumenok]

And you also forgot to mention Edgar Berger who was running the Universal Music Group Austria, Germany and Switzerland

[@polytechnika]

PLEASE DO EAEA BY BLANCA PALOMA

[@lindonesc]

Hello there. You have exceeded my highest expectations. Perfect, deep research and analysis. I've been watching your videos since 2016 and this is your best since Dans un pays loin d'ici À la recherche du paradis I knew beforehand this song is in good hands with you.

[@Peterhorowitz7653]

Fantastic content. Wonderfully written. Underrated channel

[@Sammy_The_Umbreon]

I dont think Selena is an 'anglicised' name. Selina actually has its roots in the name Selena, which is of greek origin. Selina is also a name used in the english language, with the most popular example being the comic figure Selina Kyle (aka Black Cat).

[@jonathanbrett-warren2031]

I really really really want this to storm it at Eurovision. I think, if staged perfectly, it could win. It's soooo relatable to a wide audience and a tune to boot. Vote for Austria!!!!

[@daszkiewicz_borisovicz]

I’m thankful for this content. You guys are pioneers! Keep on making great researches 🎉

[@annikania2682]

Hey there, as a German speaker, the „Poe Poe poe“ is a tiny bit off from the „Po Po”. Not *that* much, so a connection might work, also you can very neatly shake your Po(e) to that part of the song - you could say close enough. But the pronunciation isn’t quite it: „poe“ has too much „ou“ or „au“ sound in it’s later part, while „popo“ is more of an low „ooooh“ sound for which I don’t quite know an English example. If you were to pronounce „Po“ as an English speaking person it with an English accent, you sure arrive at „Poe“ though. Weird.

[@grishaa1266]

I've been waiting for it!!! Thank you so much for these videos! You deserve a lot more subscribers

[@NunoSalvaterra]

My favourite eurovision channel covering my favourite eurovision song. Today is a good day! ❤

[@GeneralNuisance00]

15:30 It might also be because Edgar Allan Poe famously died flat broke and unappreciated by the masses, his work only gaining a fanbase long after he had passed.

[@mutalimoskeu3524]

What an amazing analysis. Keep making these please!

[@ArpLaszlo]

Bravo on the breadth of topics y’all covered in analyzing the song. I’ve found my fellow middle aged music loving multipotential nerds.

[@rutholdfield3679]

Excellent! Love your work, Matthew - informative, educational and entertaining .... jeez, we really need your perspective in Eurovision, especially from where I'm watching, in Australia!!! (Also feeling like I need to go read some Edgar Allan Poe pronto :)

[@-eliaplayz-5766]

finally!!! love it

[@trildi]

Was that a random photo of Manchester's Market Street in there?! 😂

[@catzenbeurg]

Okay, now you gotta tell me: is that white male executive that says the song's title Matt Wrather himself?

[@AureWaxman]

Favorite channel on KZbin

[@TimeForEurovision]

Nice Video!

[@noroaa]

Unpopular opinion but hope Austria wins this year!

[@overthinkingit]

Not so unpopular an opinion at all!

[@samthecloud2748]

Delete the "un" 🇦🇹🫣

[@noroaa]

@@overthinkingit I meant next to Loreen and Kaarija it's in the shadow, but I hope girls will burn the stage in Liverpool

[@sofiJa1363]

fingers crossed for the girls

[@timster_]

So that’s who Edgar was!

[@riahlexington]

If I like a song on a playlist I follow the artist. I’m always interested in seeing who makes songs I like.

[@katlinzarabrasic5217]

Teya is the traditional Serbian nickname for the name "Teodora" . The only 'westernization bit is in the spelling as in serbia its would be spelt "Tea". Son only spelling is westernized so as not to confuse with 'cup of tea'

[@overthinkingit]

This is a good correction, thanks.

[@aprilhoy4010]

'...and the peculiar thing is this, my friends, The song we wrote on that fateful night, It didn't actually sound anything like Who the Hell is Edgar?!'

[@hey_loranda]

omg i think i love you

[@siniveneskoski2493]

The visuals in the ESC final reminded me of Kraftwerk album design. Someone might have commented on this before.

[@MadameChristie]

I know it's a little late to the game, but will you guys cover the Poland drama since it's so similar to what happened with Chanel last year?

[@overthinkingit]

Honestly, we don't think there's much to overthink there. It's a messy situation and it just makes us sad for all the Polish fans and performers. But next time Poland has a song we want to tackle we might look back at it.

[@theotheoth]

It is ridiculous that this song only came 15th (while awful, cliched-fest Belgium came 7th). I thought a dance song about being possessed by a long-dead horror author was just what the competition needed, but I guess that was just too much concept for the GEP (general eurovision public). This was in my joint top 2 with Czechia, although it was the latter that I thought actually had a chance of beating Sweden, so their 10th place result was even more shocking.

[@CasualUmami]

All the Poe Easter Eggs in the video...............

[@brocanova]

The line „Who The Hell Is Edgar“ has been used by the company „Edgar Freecards“ on its free postcards that are displayed in clubs and restaurants in German speaking countries since the early 1990s. Basically everyone older than 30 who goes out at night knows that phrase.

[@overthinkingit]

Wow, really? That's new information for me! Do you think Teya & Selena meant to refer to that or is it a coincidence?

[@rumenok]

And with regard to artificial intelligence, we still have at least two songs that can be related to this topic Georgia. It doesn't seem strange to you that neither the singer nor the authors commented on this topic and it seems that Iru feels quite normal performing a rather dubious text, maybe this is a generated song, and the original intention of the authors was precisely in a very abstract text, maybe it is a random text of artificial intelligence. If we dig even deeper, then perhaps this is a hint that over time there will be even more such absurd songs, because the lyrics and text in the songs will depreciate to zero. Yes, most likely this is just the inattention of the authors, but it can become a sudden innovation when grammatically incorrectly constructed lyrics will become a feature and a trend, will add more "roboticism" of AI Armenia. You probably already heard that the first verse is completely built on quotes from Tumblr, and I consider it a rather creative solution, for some reason it goes very well together with the futuristic RNB sound of the song, there is a feeling of falling into a virtual parallel reality, don't you think so? Or when you read something on the Internet, went to sleep and in a half-asleep state began to hum them, Armenia's entry sounds very alien in some places, and it emphasizes the appearance of the performer, but she is still raw and the rap part in the studio "grounds" us

[@imageez]

I would argue that on Armenia's song the verses that are "Tumblr-y" are deliberately corny. She sang a lot about her future lover, a lover that does not exist, does not have criterias other than imagery of how they will complete her. The rap os the reality of her feelings, an anxious feeling of incompleteness. The chorus of Be Good Look Good Do Good at first sounds like a preparation she made to get her future lover, but it can also be read as the reason why she wants a lover in the future. She decide to be good to get her lover, but she only feel good when she do have a lover. And it's sounds even more desperate when your first verse is "is a man who LIKES you enough to kiss your face". Not LOVE, LIKES.

[@globalhikingcr]

The actress playing the secretary throughout that says the song title at the end - Who is she? Her face feels so familiar …

[@jimkats1]

The AI view makes sense indeed, along with the view of the difficulty to make money out of music only. It's just everything is connected apparently in this song. I wonder how it will be presented on the stage.

[@digitalhorizonbr]

As a compute scientist, I found the AI theory quite fitting, tbh. I guess it wasn't their intention, but just watching the misuse and how even the artistic community has been having to speak out against AI says a lot on how easy it is for "impersonations" to be taken as valuable while the real creators end up behind the scenes I already had a soft spot for this song because I felt it was really fun, and I like when songs know how not to take themselves so seriously, but the more I learned about the meaning, it really made me appreciate the songs even more It's also sad to think the reality of wanting to work with music, but, well, at least it pays to be funny lol Great video

[@overthinkingit]

Yeah I generally don't like including theories in these videos that I don't believe the artist intended. But the AI thing really does work perfectly. And I hate to be all doom and gloom but we might one day look back on late 2022 as the moment when most creative careers became obsolete, even though it will take years for it to come to fruition.

[@digitalhorizonbr]

@@overthinkingit I honestly feel more optimistic about people in general realizing AI stuff is just a simulation of the creative process, as I feel a lot of the push for AI in everything comes mostly from the tech enthusiasts who only wants to use tech for their own benefit, and maybe in a few years the conversation on AI usage will take a drastically turn as the people tempting to profit from it don't see as much of a return they wished they'd have seen (along with regulation, but anything on law takes time, so..) Maybe it's me naively wanting to things to be okay, but only time will tell

[@overthinkingit]

I appreciate a little bit of optimism!

[@DI-uy2gi]

I’m surprised you didn’t bring up how terribly broke Poe was his whole life. He always struggled with money (and gambling debts).

[@overthinkingit]

But I don’t think that has anything to do with why they picked him. It’s a coincidence.

[@vidiia]

1:08 So that's mostly right, but it gives me a great chance to overexplain some Balkan nicknaming context! In the ex-Yu, fairly unwieldy, multi-syllabic given names used to be very common. For example, Ljubomir, Branislav, Dragoljub, etc. Hence, people often chose shorter nicknames for themselves - Mirko, Branko, or Draža. Young people nowadays tend to have less archaic names (God help you if your Serbian parents christen you something like Čedomir (Čeda) in 2023), but that cultural trend continues, and people still take nicknames en masse, much more so than in English. If you're called Teodora you might go by Toca or Teja, so she probably goes by that in casual circles - that's where 'Teya' comes from. So, it's not necessarily a 'westernised' nickname, those kinds of nicknames are just part of our culture. Although, the reason that's her stage name is exactly why you described: it's also much more palatable for broader audiences than Teodora.

[@thomastammegger3217]

Bambi was written by Austrian author Felix Salten

[@swymaj02]

8:46 Not to mention that the Austrian flag is red and white. Poignant coincidence.

[@agn855]

_"Tales of Mystery and Imagination"_ , that’s indeed *CULT*

[@metalvisionsongcontest7055]

How you can list songs inspired by Edgar Allan Poe without mentioning Nightwish’s “The Poet and the Pendulum” is a little disappointing, too 🙄.

[@valeckseimu3132]

Great studi but y u dont over think the "oooh mio padre" part ? As an italian I m really disappointed

[@queenofthegods]

Your wife sounds awesome!

[@Crudeliciousbops]

I'd throw a vote on it if it was in German, not that I would need to anyhow - I think it'll do well in the voting.

[@KaiCyreus]

is this Jason Paige or am i overthinking it

[@KixMusaid]

Okay but never change hosts ever again

[@rageguy311]

Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha! Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha! Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha Cha!

[@WienerVL]

Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe....😁

[@joebloggs396]

Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum Yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum-yum-yum

[@czechistan_zindabad]

S-čuh lol

[@Casutama]

Not "Lee-o-ben", it's pronounced "Lay-o-ben" :)

[@overthinkingit]

Noted! Looks lovely!

[@annakobuk3618]

Me during first 15 seconds: Who the hell is this guy? 😂

[@dorastefaniesellner306]

Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe Poe

[@metalvisionsongcontest7055]

7:51 So is this „Woki mit deim Poe Poe“, or „Woke-y mit deim Poe Poe“? 😁