I Want a Monster to Be My Friend " I Want a Monster to Be My Friend " was written for the 1975 " The Sesame Street Monsters ! " LP , issued as a single in 1976 , and performed as an insert on " Sesame Street " . The singer , identified only as " A Little Girl " in the album notes , explains that she ' s tired of normal pets like " birds and fish and dogs and alley - cats , " and that what she ' d really like is to have a as a friend . After a sweet introductory verse , the girl ( performed by Marilyn Sokol ) belts out her desires in a deep , mock - burlesque growl : " I want a monster to be my playmate " < br > " I want a monster to be my friend " < br > " I want to get , as my own pet , " < br > " A real live monster who is not pretend . " The song echoes the recurring theme of " The Sesame Street Monsters ! " album that monsters can be both scary and nice , and that it ' s possible to see both perspectives at the same time . The opening song on the album " The Lovable Monsters of Sesame Street " makes this clear as the growling , snarling monsters sing : " No , no , please don ' t go . " < br > " We won ' t eat you up , you know . " < br > " We are monsters , but we ' re sweet . " < br > " We ' re the lovable Monsters of Sesame Street . " Many of the monsters on the LP cover have fangs and dark , menacing eyebrows , and the young boy on the cover looks vaguely unsettled . " I Want a Monster to Be My Friend " plays with the apparent oxymoron of a friendly monster , in keeping with the rest of the album . On " Sesame Street " , the Betty Lou puppet lip - synched to Sokol ' s vocal track , backed by three monsters on piano , saxophone , and tambourine . Two different takes of the segment aired on the show and as part of international co - productions . In 1981 , the song was included in the second " Sesame Street Live " show , " Big Bird ' s Super Spectacular Totally Amateur Show " , sung by Prairie Dawn . This song was also included in the original release of " Born to Add " . The song was removed from rotation on " Sesame Street " in 1984 , after a mother complained about the song ' s bridge : " If I make friends with a friendly monster , " < br > " I ' ll let him bounce me on his knee . " < br > " I ' ll let him do whatever he wants ta , " < br > " Especially if he ' s bigger than me . " These lyrics , interpreted in an unwholesome way , could be seen as encouraging children to give in to physical demands made by adults . A " New York Times " article on April 9 , 1984 , summarized the situation : When " The Sesame Street Monsters ! " LP was re - released on CD as " Monster Melodies " in 1996 , " I Want a Monster " was not included ; it was replaced by a Herry Monster song , " That Furry Blue Mommy of Mine " . It was also not included in the 1993 reissue of " Born to Add " . However , it was included in " Plaza Sesamo Canta " , a 1993 video release . In 1998 , the R & B vocal group En Vogue performed " I Want a Monster " on the " Elmopalooza " TV special . The performance was also included on the " Elmopalooza ! " soundtrack . In this new version , the questionable lyrics were altered to : " If I make friends with a friendly monster , " < br > " I ' d be the best that a friend could be . " < br > " I ' d let him do whatever he wants to " < br > " And he ' d always belong to me . " Despite the controversy , the original song has since been released on the digital download version of " The Sesame Street Monsters ! " album . Sources . _ _ NOWYSIWYG _ _