Even if you’re unfamiliar with Eels, you may know My Beloved Monster from the soundtrack to Shrek, specifically the scene where the cuddly ogre woos his princess by cruelly inflating an innocent frog into a makeshift balloon. Long before it hit Hollywood, the track appeared on Eels’ 1996 debut album Beautiful Freak. Bandleader Mark Oliver Everett (aka “E”) remains so fond of it that he and his rotating cast of backing musicians continue to perform it on every Eels tour, each time completely transforming its sound. According to an interview with Fuse TV, E can’t remember a single Eels show in which it wasn’t included, and he has considered recording a whole album of different interpretations. “Aside from the fact that the lyrics are the same, you might not notice that you’re listening to the same song over and over again,” he said.

That project is yet to materialise but there are already several renditions that can be found across Eels’ official releases. And with Eels’ eight-disc Complete DreamWorks Albums retrospective on the horizon, what better time to embark on a mammoth My Beloved Monster marathon?

My Beloved Monster

from Beautiful Freak LP (1996)

Composed in just 30 minutes as part of a writing exercise, My Beloved Monster has an inherent simplicity, which is what makes the song so versatile. The original recording lasts for just over two minutes, and uses only three chords. A cuter take on the Pixies’ quiet-loud-quiet formula, it has lullaby-like verses narrating how E and his lover go everywhere together, “wearing a raincoat that has four sleeves”, and a boisterous chorus which reaffirms this devotion, while also introducing the darker worldview to which E’s songwriting often succumbs. His beloved monster acts as his only solace from “living in a world that’s so damn mean”. In lieu of a third verse, there is some playful plonking around on a Chamberlin keyboard, a brief string of “la la la”s, and then it’s over.

Yet our journey into the world of My Beloved Monsters is only just beginning ...

My Beloved Monster (Live from Tennessee)

B-side to Novocaine for the Soul (1996)

Even as early as Beautiful Freak’s lead single, Novocaine for the Soul, E showed his keenness to mess around with My Beloved Monster. This rendition remains relatively faithful to the LP version, although the choruses are more restrained and harmonious. Also, there is no organ plonking towards the end; that section is played only on guitar. Prior to Beautiful Freak, E had recorded two solo albums for Polydor, after which he changed his act’s name to Eels, partly because of the musical leaps he had made but also because “E” looked too small and weird when written on gig posters. Bassist Tommy Walter and drummer Jonathan “Butch” Norton were drafted in as backing players, giving the impression that Eels were a “proper” (ie more easily marketable) rock band, and it’s this three-piece lineup we can hear on this recording.

Novocaine for the Soul was a big hit for Eels, reaching the UK top 10. Ever the contrarian, E would soon drop the song from Eels’ setlists and would later do the same thing with hit singles Last Stop: This Town and Mr E’s Beautiful Blues. My Beloved Monster, however, would remain a constant.







My Beloved Mad Monster Party

from Rags to Rags EP (1996)

This live version comes from a Radio 1 session and is introduced by ringmaster E with the words: “Why don’t you gather round me, peoples? Sit down. Let me lay a story on ya.” Then Eels launch into a massively funked-up rendition, complete with warm, swooping organ chords and deep bass throbs. In between his lines, E yelps hip-dude phrases like “Yeah, it’s like this ...” and “Uuh-huh”. The rocking noise section is replaced by short successive bass, drum and organ solo spots. In the background, rowdy handclaps, whoops and cheers add to the carnival atmosphere. As the track ends, you can hear somebody, possibly one of the band-members, quietly judge the performance as “sexy”. It’s not an adjective that’s often associated with Eels but, in this case, they weren’t wrong.



My Beloved Monster

from Electro-Shock Blues Show LP (2002)

Eels’ second album, Electro Shock Blues, released in 1998, documented in uncompromising detail recent tragedies in E’s life, namely his sister’s suicide and mother’s terminal lung cancer. Most of the tracks on the Electro-Shock Blues Show live album, released four years later, were equal parts eulogy, primal scream therapy and celebration of life.

Despite the audible presence of irritated (and irritating) audience members demanding “Novocaine” throughout, this rocking version of My Beloved Monster is unashamedly upbeat, incorporating elements of the Rolling Stones’ Satisfaction into its arrangement.

There is also a bonus My Beloved Monster included on this CD as a hidden track. On this one, after the second chorus, Eels finish the song by segueing smoothly into the Temptations’ 1965 hit My Girl, complete with ludicrously high-pitched backing vocals: “I guess you’d say / What could make me feel this way? / My beloved monster (My beloved monster) / My beloved monster (My beloved monster) ...”

My Beloved Monstrosity

B-side to Souljacker Part 1 (2001)

Presumably recorded on the 2000 Eels Orchestra tour to promote Daisies of the Galaxy, My Beloved Monstrosity is a light, sleigh-belled ditty that ends with a neat little “cha-cha-cha”. The Souljacker single also contains some bonus material, however, which in typical Eels style is both funny and tainted by tragedy. It’s an excerpt from a gig at which Eels’ long-time roadie “Spider” took hold of the reins of My Beloved Monster by singing the lead vocals completely out of tune and largely forgetting its lyrics: “What’s the next line? ... My Beloved Monster is ... something, something ... Bongo solo!” Spider died of an overdose in August that year.



My Beloved Monster

from Sixteen Tons LP (2005)

The Sixteen Tons KCRW session climaxes with one of the longest and most indulgent available versions of My Beloved Monster. It’s an up-tempo beast that emulates, or more likely mocks, the style of the numerous blues-rock revivalists who had sprung to fame in the early 00s, including the Datsuns, Jet and the White Stripes. Here, My Beloved Monster’s second chorus is followed by trashy guitar jamming, then a quieter bass-and-drums breakdown over which E, or “daddy” as he’s calling himself, asks his group to: “Take it up one last time ... you ready?” Cue further fuzzy riffs and spiky solos. That’s how you do it, you pseudo-blues upstarts. “We’re the Eels, from Los Angeles, California. We love you!”



My Beloved Monster

from Live at the Town Hall LP (2006)



After releasing the 33-track double album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations in 2005, it was time for E to transform his concerts once more. The highbrow orchestral sound of the Eels With Strings tour was made by a fancy string quartet alongside multi-instrumentalists who alternated between piano, upright bass, mandolin, pedal steel and musical saw. Recorded at the Town Hall, New York, this short but sweet performance of My Beloved Monster sees E strum out the chords on an acoustic guitar, with the blissful violins and dainty twang of the pedal steel contrasting delightfully with the singer’s gruff vocals. This interpretation includes a brand new additional verse at the end. “When she turns out the light every night”, E’s object of affection “don’t have a thing to fear”, because, although “the day didn’t go quite right, there’s another chance near”.

And with that comes the chance for another version of My Beloved Monster. But first, an intermission:

My Beloved Monster

from Manchester 2005 LP (2008)

Admittedly, I have never heard this version of My Beloved Monster. It’s on a live album that is available exclusively as part of the deluxe four-LP box set reissue of Blinking Lights and Other Revelations. Currently retailing at £89.99, that package is sadly beyond my budget. Don’t worry though, folks. There are still four more My Beloved Monsters on this list that I do own and can’t wait to tell you about ...



My Beloved Monster

from Live and in Person! London 2006 LP (2008)

After the genteel Eels With Strings tour, it wasn’t long before E surrendered to the irrepressible desire to frighten, confuse and deafen his audiences once more. Out went the respectable string quartet and in came a bunch of hairy men dressed in flight suits and flying goggles. This My Beloved Monster is a pacy organ-heavy romp that winds up as the kind of gospel-laced “woah-woah” spiritual singalong that would make the Blues Brothers’ asses wiggle. If you watch the DVD version, you’ll notice it also features some admirable tambourine work courtesy of Krazy Al, an intimidating bouncer-turned-performance artist who would stand motionless at one side of the stage, intimidating the audience with his beshaded stare, occasionally shaking a couple of maracas or contributing backing vocals.

My Beloved Monster

from MySpace Transmissions EP (2009)

In 2007, MySpace launched a series of downloadable digital EPs of “live in studio” recordings, as a sort of digital-age reimagining of the esteemed Peel Session. However, the first MySpace Transmission featured James Blunt and, unless you count Bon Iver or NOFX, the most credible outfit among the list of mostly indie bores was Eels. E performed the six-song session on his own, and naturally found space to include My Beloved Monster. It’s another shorty, and a delicate one at that, on which E abandoned the quiet-loud formula of the original composition, choosing instead to pluck his guitar equally softly on both verse and chorus, maintaining the tune’s nursery rhyme feel.



My Beloved Monster

from Tremendous Dynamite LP (2012)

This live album hosts recordings of two shows, from October 2010 and August 2011, at First Avenue in Minneapolis, where E’s hero Prince filmed Purple Rain. Splendidly, both sets include a My Beloved Monster. First up is a fast, bass-heavy funk number, with E stretching his voice in an attempt to reach the high notes that Prince once hit in the same venue. “Gonna play my guitar,” he surrenders, eking out a few sweet licks that, while not exactly rivalling the Purple One’s virtuosity, form an appropriately frisky and heartfelt tribute to the legend.

Funky in a different way, mid-paced and adorned by a brass section, the 2011 outing possesses a more retro R&B vibe.



My Beloved Monster

from Royal Albert Hall LP (2015)

Lastly, this version is from a 2014 show that coincided with E being awarded the Freedom of the City of London. Incidentally, four years previously, that same city’s police had questioned him under suspicion of being a terrorist because he’d been spotted near an embassy sporting an unconventional appearance. “Not every guy with short hair and a long beard is a terrorist,” he said afterwards. “Some of us just want to rock.” Even so, when Eels returned to the capital they dressed smarter, replacing the scruffy tracksuits of their previous trip with formal suits and ties. In this guise, they withdrew from the heavy funk, returning to something more akin to the Eels With Strings sound – albeit without the actual string section. Royal Albert Hall’s My Beloved Monster is a stripped-back, poppy affair with easy-listening guitar licks and extremely pretty backing harmonies. For the time being, it’s the perfect way to end our odyssey through the mountains of My Beloved Monster.