Hyperfixed: “A Song for Ethan”

Host: Alex Goldman
Producer: Amor Yates
Date: October 9, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode of Hyperfixed, host Alex Goldman investigates a strange, hilarious, and unexpectedly heartwarming digital mystery: Why are there so many quirky, slightly embarrassing “Ethan Poop” songs on Spotify? Listener Manon writes in about her little brother Ethan being on the receiving end of these songs and wants to know: Are these tunes composed by mischievous humans, churned out by artificial intelligence, or something else entirely? Along the journey, the show explores internet micro-trends, the oddball world of personalized song production, the artistry (and ethics) of AI in music, and the joys and absurdities that tie siblings together—plus delivers a custom, poop-free “song for Ethan” to celebrate him for who he really is.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The Sibling Dynamic & Origin of the Mystery

• Manon’s Story

  • Manon, a half-French, half-American journalist in Liberia, shares a tight sibling bond with her brother Ethan. Their nomadic childhoods forged their closeness and a unique family humor, rich in bathroom jokes and gentle teasing.
  • Quote: “In the family in general, we always have like, if someone’s mentioning that they’re going to the bathroom, the joke is usually like, ‘don’t fall in!’” — Manon (04:38)

• The Incident

  • During a trip to Rockaway Beach, Ethan suffered an embarrassing “accident” (he pooped his pants), which later became an inside joke among the family, especially after Ethan’s girlfriend Rachel broke the news.
  • Quote: “And you know, I’m maybe five, six steps away from that restroom when it just happens. And I shit myself.” — Ethan (07:27)

• The Prank

  • At work, Ethan pulled a prank by playing songs with a co-worker’s name, but his girlfriend Rachel turned the tables, searching for “Ethan” songs on Spotify—uncovering a trove of poop-centric tracks that felt bizarrely personal.

2. Unpacking the “Ethan Poop” Song Phenomenon

• Are These Songs Targeted?

  • Manon’s journalistic curiosity is piqued. She wonders if the songs could be AI-generated, if they’re made by humans cashing in on streaming micro-trends, or if there’s some surreal targeted vendetta—especially since one song mentions France (their family’s heritage).
    • Quote: “Is it a human? Is it AI?…How does the decision making process happen?” — Manon (08:41)
    • Quote: “So it almost feels like they’re talking about your Ethan.” — Amor Yates (09:10)
    • Quote: “That's exactly what it is.” — Manon (09:14)

• All in Good Fun… or Manufactured Nonsense?

  • Ethan is more bemused by the lack of positive Ethan songs than offended by the poop fixation.
    • Quote: “Maybe the solution is actually to have more of those. But what else does Ethan do?” — Ethan (09:42)

3. Detecting AI in the Wild: Music Edition

• Auditory Inspection

  • Alex and Amor listen closely to several “Ethan” songs, debating whether they’re the product of human silliness or artificial intelligence.
  • Alex expresses suspicion that the awkward humor and “stupid humanity” in some tracks feel too eccentric for AI.
    • Quote: “That one also…has too much humanity. Like, too much stupid humanity to it to feel like AI to me, it feels like a person being silly.” — Alex (12:40)
    • Quote: “See, that can’t be AI because AI would never come up with a word like ‘smelliny.’” — Alex (13:53)

• Expert Consultation: Ben Jordan

  • Musician and audio researcher Ben Jordan explains the “black box” issue of AI music generators (like Suno and Udio), and how he reverse-engineered a detection method by tracing unique audio compression artifacts left in AI-generated MP3s.
    • Quote: “It seems like it’s a magic trick when you first type in a prompt and then a song is made.” — Ben Jordan (16:23)
    • Quote: “I designed my own AI model that could analyze songs and recognize files created by SUNO based solely on the compression patterns of data in the audio file.” — Ben Jordan (22:12)

• Result: The Truth About the “Poop Songs”

  • Ben’s analysis of the songs: Three out of four are made by humans, but one—“Ethan Smells Like a Llama (Ethan Poop)”—was definitely created by AI on Suno.

    • Quote: “Three out of the four are not AI. And ‘Ethan Smells Like a Llama, Ethan Poop,’ that one was made on Suno.” — Ben Jordan (23:02)

  • Irony: The only AI-generated song was the one Alex found oddly catchy.

    • Quote: “The one song that I liked…ended up being the only song that pinged as AI in Ben’s model. And I think that’s a testament to just how good AI’s gotten.” — Alex (23:54)

4. The King of Poop Songs: Matt Farley

• Meet Matt Farley

  • Alex reconnects with Matt Farley—a prolific artist with over 26,000 songs on Spotify, many dedicated to “poop” and people’s names.

    • Quote: “It was always my instinct to write tons of songs… I’m just gonna make so much music that they can’t ignore me.” — Matt Farley (31:20)

  • Matt’s “stream of consciousness” songwriting and cheerful excess are a perfect fit for internet trends driven by vanity searches and childish humor.

    • Quote: “As every parent knows, the first thing a kid does when faced with a computer prompt is to search the word ‘poop.’” — Alex (32:16)

  • Other copycat artists like Poops, Super Poop, and Reckless Otter have arisen, which Matt takes in stride—though he asserts that his “poop songs” have more vitality.

    • Quote: “I do sometimes feel there’s a lack of humanity to a lot of the other people’s named poop songs where it sounds very, very robotic, whereas I think mine sound very, very full of life… I like mine better.” — Matt Farley (37:04)

• Financials of Fecal Fame

  • Matt is candid about streaming payout realities: Some songs earn thousands, others “five cents minus.”
    • Quote: “One song in a year could earn $5,000+… many songs in a year earn $0.05 minus.” — Matt Farley (35:03)

5. Making It Personal: A New Song for Ethan

• From Ridicule to Honor

  • To remedy Ethan’s disappointment over being reduced to poop jokes, Alex asks Matt to compose a custom, celebratory, non-poop-related song just for Ethan.
    • Quote: “I wanted to give Ethan one more song that, unlike the others, was really meant for him and didn’t include any mention of poop.” — Alex (38:05)

• World Premiere of “Song for Ethan”

  • At Ethan’s New York whiskey bar, the new song debuts to Ethan’s delight—later echoed by Manon listening across the ocean in Liberia.

    • [39:40]
      Sample Lyrics:
      “Ethan, you’re so great and you make people smile
      Ethan, you’re a genius of flavor profile
      At Caledonia, people wait…”

    • Quote: “It’s just sort of nice to create special moments even when we’re not together, which is a lot harder to do.” — Manon (40:05)

• Creating New Bonds at a Distance

  • The episode ends on a tender note as the new “Ethan song” becomes a new touchstone for the far-flung family.

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Ethan’s Reluctant Fame:
  “For some reason, most songs that have my name in them end up being about Ethan pooping his pants.” — Ethan (06:20)
• Musical Forensics:
  “Our human ear is not a very good scientific measuring device… It’s interpreted by our brains. It’s very subjective.” — Ben Jordan (22:37)
• About Songwriting as Work:
  “Does it ever start to feel like a slog?… Oh no, no, it’s a slog. Everything… But you love accomplishing the marathon.” — Matt Farley (33:34)
• On AI Music Detection:
  “When Ben realized this, he had his Eureka moment: ‘What if we just look for [compression artifacts] to see if there’s a bunch of these artifacts that are in this music?’” — Alex Goldman (22:04)
• Sibling Bonds Across Continents:
  “Usually…you’re on a call catching up on life. You’re not creating new memories and new moments and new things to bond over as easily… I really enjoyed that.” — Manon (40:05)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 02:18 – Manon and Ethan’s childhood, family humor, and bond
• 07:27 – The infamous bathroom incident in New York
• 08:41 – Manon’s investigation: Are the poop songs human or AI?
• 10:47 – Alex & Amor listen to “Ethan Poop” songs, try to guess their origins
• 16:23 – AI music and the “black box”; intro to Ben Jordan’s detection method
• 23:02 – Results: which Ethan songs are AI, which are human
• 30:12 – Introduction to Matt Farley, king of custom song micro-genres
• 35:03 – The economics of streaming as explained by Matt Farley
• 38:57 – Premiere of Matt Farley’s personalized, positive “Song for Ethan”
• 40:05 – Manon reflects on family, distance, and the special new memory

Closing Thoughts

“A Song for Ethan” showcases Hyperfixed at its best—turning a weird, personal internet annoyance into an exploration of how culture, technology, family, and humor intersect. The episode is as much about the resilience of sibling bonds as it is about algorithmic oddities, and lands a warm, musical ending with Ethan celebrated in a whole new light.

Listen to Matt Farley’s custom songs:
moturnmedia.com/custom-songs
Find “Song for Ethan” & other tracks on Spotify (link in show notes).