"Novocaine for the Soul" is a song by American

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band

Eels Eels are ray-finned fish belonging to the order Anguilliformes (), which consists of eight suborders, 19 families, 111 genera, and about 800 species. Eels undergo considerable development from the early larval stage to the eventual adult stage ...

. It was released as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from their 1996 debut album, ''

Beautiful Freak ''Beautiful Freak'' is the debut album by American rock band Eels. It was released on 13 August 1996 and is the first album released by record label DreamWorks. Background ''Beautiful Freak'' is largely the solo work of musician Mark Oliver Ev ...

''.

Background

Discussing the song's subject matter in 1996, Eels frontman E said, "Part of my problem is with intimacy. 'Novocaine for the Soul' sounds detached because it's about detachment. That's what I think is so great about that song, and on that level I think it's almost genius. It's detachment personified. I'm singing about numbness and I'm numb. It's about having too much feeling."

Release

After Steven Spielberg,

Jeffrey Katzenberg Jeffrey Katzenberg (; born December 21, 1950) is an American filmmaker, animator, and media proprietor. He became well known for his tenure as chairman of Walt Disney Studios from 1984 to 1994. After departing Disney, he was a co-founder and C ...

and David Geffen signed the band to their then-newly formed record label DreamWorks, "Novocaine for the Soul" brought Eels international success, most notably in the United Kingdom, where it hit number 10 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

in February 1997. It also hit number one on the '' Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart for two weeks in October 1996, and remained on the chart for 25 weeks. In Australia, "Novocaine for the Soul" peaked at number 84 in October 1996. The song was featured in the television shows '' Trigger Happy TV'', '' My Mad Fat Diary'', and '' Five Bedrooms'', the films '' Berlin Blues'', '' Mean Creek'' and ''

Dream for an Insomniac ''Dream for an Insomniac'' is a 1995 (released in 1996) romantic comedy film written and directed by Tiffanie DeBartolo and starring Ione Skye, Jennifer Aniston, Mackenzie Astin and Michael Landes. Plot synopsis Frankie ( Ione Skye) works at he ...

'', and a trailer for the 2001 film ''

Novocaine Procaine is a local anesthetic drug of the amino ester group. It is most commonly used in dental procedures to numb the area around a tooth and is also used to reduce the pain of intramuscular injection of penicillin. Owing to the ubiquity of ...

''.

Music video

The

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

was directed by

Mark Romanek Mark Romanek (; born September 18, 1959) is an American filmmaker whose directing work includes feature films, television, music videos and commercials. Romanek wrote and directed the 2002 film ''One Hour Photo'' and directed the 2010 film '' Neve ...

and features E and the other band members suspended on wires, making them appear to be flying.

Track listing

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Covers

* Portugal. The Man featuring Sir Chloe, released September 2021 (packaged as a single with a cover of Len's "Steal My Sunshine" featuring Cherry Glazerr on the other side)

References

External links

* {{Authority control Eels (band) songs 1996 debut singles 1996 songs DreamWorks Records singles Music videos directed by Mark Romanek Song recordings produced by Mark Oliver Everett Songs about drugs Songs written by Mark Oliver Everett