Let me know how it goes and who shows
And if anybody notices I’m not there, I don’t care
I’m just curious, are they furious that I’m staying
And I’m not playing their games?
I’d like a list of names.
The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities and Towns is a Motern Media novelty song artist, with Matt Farley being the sole contributor. As the artist, who Farley named Ebeneezer, Farley has written one album for each of the fifty United States, as well as albums about France, Canada, England, and Australia. He has also released one No-Jokes album, I’ve Never Left My Hometown, which explains some of the artist’s lore.
Farley began recording songs as The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns as he was working through new topics about which he could write novelty songs. He began with Texas (Texas City & Town Song Fun, TX) in March 2012 and finished the project with Mississippi (Mississippi Music Song Always) in June 2023, totalling 3,271 songs across 55 albums (and two singles).
As The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns, Farley has received significant press coverage in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Washington, and Idaho, as well as Australia, and France.
Farley has not written a song about Washington, D.C. under this pseudonym. However, as The Odd Man Who Sings About Poop, Puke and Pee, he did release the song Poop Song for Washington, Dc on the album City Poop Songs.
As The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns, Farley crossed the 16,000 song milestone with the release of Come With Me to France, Ok? in August 2014, the 11th album under this pseudonym. Massachusetts Is a Great Commonwealth State, Yes!, the 19th album under this pseudonym, was released in February 2018 and broke the 19,000 song milestone.
Farley has not recorded any music under this pseudonym since the real of Mississippi Music Song Always. However, he has not finished writing novelty songs, and therefore in the future he may write songs about other cities and towns around the world that he has not yet covered.
In the Motern Media universe
The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns goes by the name Ebeneezer. Not much is known about the early years of this character, except for the fact that he may have seen or become afraid of a killer clown when he was a child (as told in the song “The Killer Clown Came to Our Town” on I’ve Never Left My Hometown.)
As one of his album titles suggests, Ebeneezer has never left his hometown, as he feels strongly that he should remain where he grew up. This has become such a neurosis that he has never even stepped across the town line, which has become a roadblock for his social and romantic life. For instance, he never goes to parties out of town, and therefore he doesn’t go to many parties in town, either.
Ebeneezer is linked to a woman named Cathy, who is his lover. Cathy often takes trips out of town, but Ebeneezer stays behind, fearful of leaving. He views Cathy’s excursions as superfluous, hoping that one day she will settle down with him and not leave town either.
At some point in 2012, Ebeneezer began writing songs about cities and towns after finding himself in a Wikipedia rabbit hole. He sends some demos to Matt Farley of Motern Media, who signs him to a contract. Ebeneezer continues to write songs at a rapid pace, finding no reason to stop doing so, since he never leaves town.
In “Take Their Word” from I’ve Never Left My Hometown, Ebeneezer provides a potential reason for why he writes songs about other cities and towns, despite never visiting them. He says that because others have already seen everywhere in the world, he can understand what other places are like from various sources, such as other people’s stories, the Internet, and so on.
At one point in their relationship, Cathy decides to permanently leave town, and during this time she has an affair with Roy Singerman, also known as The Very Nice Interesting Singer Man. Ebeneezer writes I’ve Never Left My Hometown in his frustration with Cathy for going away and with himself for being too fearful to step across the town line. Motern Media releases the album in September 2016, and Ebeneezer takes a brief hiatus from writing to regroup.
During his break, Ebeneezer begins seeing a new woman. He does not tell her about his neurosis, but the two of them break up before he has a chance. At some point later on, Cathy returns to town and to Ebeneezer, and seems to stay put for a while. Reinvigorated, Ebeneezer continued to write albums about cities and towns for Motern Media at an even more feverish pace, using his income to support his lifestyle.
Ebeneezer has not written new music for Motern Media lately, although he has many cities and towns around the world left to write about. His current whereabouts are unknown, but it is assumed he still has not left his hometown.
Writing style
Farley usually consults the Wikipedia page of each city for which he writes a song, as he is easily able to riff on the published facts and points of interest. In a usual style for his novelty songs, Farley will write and record lyrics on the fly over quick beats, working at a rapid pace.
Most albums from The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns list the tracks in order from largest to smallest population. For example, California Is a Big State, Oh Yeah, CA begins with Los Angeles (pop. 3,904,657 as of 2013) and works its way down, ending with Yuba City (pop. 65,557 as of 2013). However, there are exceptions:
- The first album Texas City & Town Song Fun, TX begins with the first 34 tracks in alphabetical order. However, tracks then seem to be listed at random.
- Connecticut City & Town Fun Song, CT lists tracks in alphabetical order.
- English England, British Britain, UK, Great Songs! lists tracks in random order, although it does begin with London, the UK’s largest city.
- These Songs Are About Canada Places list the tracks roughly in order by population, with the suburban areas of cities placed after their respective cities (such as Mississauga after Toronto, or Surrey after Vancouver).
Each album from The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns has contained anywhere from 49 to 95 tracks, although new streaming rules have prevented more recent releases from having more than 50 tracks.
All songs treat their respective cities and towns in a positive light, as Farley believes most places are nice areas in which one can live and raise a family.
Release frequency
As with other prolific Motern Media bands, Farley has released albums from The Guy Who Sings Songs About Cities & Towns at a rapid pace. However, there have been periods where releases have come faster than others.
- March 2012 – September 2016: 15 albums released, on average one album every 3-4 months.
- September 2016 – February 2018: Hiatus, probably due to work on MO75 with The Big Heist as well as other projects.
- February 2018 – April 2019: 6 albums and 1 single released, with three albums and one single coming out in January 2019 alone.
- April 2020 – June 2023: 34 albums and 1 single released, on average one album every month, with increased output toward the end of 2020 and beginning of 2021, due to Farley’s Road to 24,000 ambitions. Other reasons for heightened output include increased focus on writing about every U.S. state as quickly as possible or prioritizing writing for this band over other novelty artists.
Discography
(Run time for all albums is incomplete as of now.)
| # | Album | Tracks/Run Time | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Texas City & Town Song Fun, TX | 90 (2:16:00) | March 16, 2012 |
| 2 | Connecticut City & Town Fun Song, CT | 90 (2:16:00) | April 29, 2012 |
| 3 | New Jersey Has Townships and Boroughs Too, NJ | 88 (2:22:00) | October 11, 2012 |
| 4 | English England, British Britain, UK, Great Songs! | 92 (2:28:00) | December 5, 2012 |
| 5 | California Is a Big State, Oh Yeah, CA | 92 (2:21:00) | April 2, 2013 |
| 6 | New York State Nice Places NY Song Yes! | 95 (2:25:00) | June 17, 2013 |
| 7 | These Songs Are About Canada Places | 94 (2:28:00) | November 5, 2013 |
| 8 | These Australia Places Deserve These Nice Songs | 88 (2:11:00) | January 6, 2014 |
| 9 | Virginia Is Good and Yes, VA | 71 (1:50:00) | February 26, 2014 |
| 10 | Illinois IL Song Fun Yeah | 89 (2:15:00) | June 24, 2014 |
| 11 | Come With Me to France, Ok? | 82 (2:05:00) | August 17, 2014 |
| 12 | Pennsylvania Songs: PA Exciting | 93 (2:26:00) | November 17, 2014 |
| 13 | Ohio Cities and Towns and Yes! | 92 (2:17:00) | December 14, 2014 |
| 14 | Michigan, MI USA Terrific Fun | 83 (2:06:00) | July 5, 2015 |
| 15 | I’ve Never Left My Hometown | 30 (53:51) | September 5, 2016 |
| 16 | Massachusetts Is a Great Commonwealth State, Yes! | 50 (1:22:00) | February 6, 2018 |
| 17 | Very Good Minnesota City Songs Because | 50 (1:18:00) | July 6, 2018 |
| 18 | Georgia City Songs Forever and Always! | 50 (1:26:00) | January 1, 2019 |
| 19 | Colorado State America Songs | 50 (1:26:00) | January 5, 2019 |
| 20 | Do You Like These Songs About Wisconsin Cities and Towns? | 50 (1:23:00) | January 16, 2019 |
| South Amboy, New Jersey | Single (1:52) | January 31, 2019 | |
| 21 | North Carolina City and Towns Songs for All People | 50 (1:22:00) | April 10, 2019 |
| 22 | Maryland Songs for Maryland People, MD | 50 (1:24:00) | April 7, 2020 |
| 23 | Important Songs About Washington State Cities Because | 49 (1:22:00) | May 9, 2020 |
| 24 | Indiana Songs Best For Ever! | 50 (1:29:00) | November 30, 2020 |
| 25 | Delaware, Oh Yeah! | 50 (1:29:00) | December 14, 2020 |
| 26 | Rhode Island Places Fun! | 50 (1:29:00) | December 21, 2020 |
| 27 | Maine City and Town Sensational Yes! | 50 (1:30:00) | December 31, 2020 |
| 28 | I Made These Songs About Iowa Cities | 50 (1:29:00) | January 9, 2021 |
| A Song About Leadville, Colorado! | Single | January 10, 2021 | |
| 29 | These Are Songs About Alabama Places | 50 | January 17, 2021 |
| 30 | Songs About South Carolina Places | 50 | January 26, 2021 |
| 31 | Oregon City Songs That Are Good | 50 | January 31, 2021 |
| 32 | Utah! Oh Yeah! Good! | 50 | February 4, 2021 |
| 33 | Important Album About Tennessee City and Town Places | 50 (1:31:00) | February 9, 2021 |
| 34 | Vermont is So Great and Cities and Towns Places! | 50 (1:31:00) | March 10, 2021 |
| 35 | Nebraska Songs for City Good Nice! | 50 (1:27:00) | April 16, 2021. |
| 36 | Idaho City Songs I Like so Good | 50 (1:32:00) | April 19, 2021 |
| 37 | The Florida City Town Songs Indeed | 50 (1:32:00) | April 28, 2021 |
| 38 | Kansas City Anthem Songs For | 50 (1:30:00) | July 2, 2021 |
| 39 | Oh Yeah! Oklahoma, Uh Huh! | 50 (1:28:00) | July 21, 2021 |
| 40 | Nevada! Nevada! Oh Yeah Songs Nevada! | 50 (1:27:00) | August 8, 2021 |
| 41 | Montana Cities Montana Towns Good Indeed | 50 (1:25:00) | September 19, 2021 |
| 42 | Hawaii Places Songs Oh Yeah | 50 (1:30:00) | November 14, 2021 |
| 43 | Interesting South Dakota Songs Good | 50 (1:36:00) | December 23, 2021 |
| 44 | The Alaska Album You’ve Been Waiting For | 50 (1:38:00) | June 1, 2022 |
| 45 | Arizona Good Songs Place Good | 50 (1:40:00) | July 9, 2022 |
| 46 | Good Songs Louisiana Yes Yes Good | 50 (1:34:00) | July 26, 2022 |
| 47 | Arkansas Songs Forever | 50 (1:39:00) | October 19, 2022 |
| 48 | Super North Dakota Songs Good | 50 (1:35:00) | November 25, 2022 |
| 49 | Missouri Oh Yeah! Good Yes | 50 (1:32:00) | December 9, 2022 |
| 50 | New Hampshire Great Always Anthem Songs | 50 (1:34:00) | December 23, 2022 |
| 51 | Good Kentucky Cities Songs Best | 50 (1:34:00) | January 1, 2023 |
| 52 | West Virginia Cities Towns Fantastic | 50 (1:31:00) | June 4, 2023 |
| 53 | Wyoming City Songs Town Best | 50 (1:29:00) | June 13, 2023 |
| 54 | Song New Mexico Places Indeed | 50 (1:28:00) | June 27, 2023 |
| 55 | Mississippi Music Song Always | 50 (1:31:00) | June 27, 2023 |