Synopsis

In stark black and white, Eels frontman Mark Oliver Everett listens to a record while wearing headphones, then slowly rises into the air. The rest of the band follows, performing their instruments while suspended above an urban alley. The musicians drift, climb and hang in apparently impossible positions, turning a gritty city setting into a weightless dreamscape. The video pairs the song's detached, melancholy mood with an uncanny sense of escape, as if emotional numbness has lifted the band free from ordinary reality.

Factoids & Trivia

• The video was shot in black and white, reinforcing the song's bleak, detached atmosphere.

• The floating effect was achieved with wire work rather than digital animation. E later recalled that the band performed its own stunts, describing the shoot as both frightening and painful.

• The primary alley location was at 731 South Broadway in Los Angeles.

• E said the band made the video partly out of boredom with conventional music videos, matching the deliberately odd, understated approach of the clip.

• The video received two MTV Video Music Award nominations: Best Cinematography in a Video and Best Special Effects in a Video.

• "Novocaine for the Soul" was Eels' first single and the lead track from the 1996 debut album "Beautiful Freak." The song became the band's breakthrough, reaching No. 10 on the UK Singles Chart and topping Billboard's Modern Rock Tracks chart.