Radiohead - Creep (Live at Reading Festival, 2009)
Creep is a song by the English alternative rock band Radiohead.
Radiohead released "Creep" as their debut single in 1992, and it later appeared on their first album, Pablo Honey (1993).
During its initial release, "Creep" was not a chart success. However, upon re-release in 1993, it became a worldwide hit.
Attendees of Radiohead's early gigs often exhibited little interest in the band's other songs, causing the band to react against "Creep" and play it less often during the mid-to-late 1990s.
In 1998, halfway through their OK Computer tour, the band dropped the song from set lists altogether. "Creep" was not played live again until 2001, but it has since reappeared several times on the band's live sets.
In 2008, the song was included in the Radiohead: The Best Of compilation album.
According to Radiohead bassist Colin Greenwood, Thom Yorke wrote "Creep" while studying at Exeter University in the late 1980s.
Guitarist Jonny Greenwood said the song was inspired by a girl that Yorke had followed around who showed up unexpectedly during a show by the band.
In 1992 during rehearsal sessions with producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie, Radiohead spontaneously performed "Creep". Yorke described "Creep" to the producers as "our Scott Walker song"; Slade and Kolderie mistook the singer's remark and believed the song was a cover.
After tension arose due to unsatisfactory attempts at recording other songs, Slade and Kolderie tried to improve morale by requesting Radiohead to play "Creep" again. The band recorded the song in a single take; after the performance everyone in the room burst into applause. Once the band assured Kolderie that "Creep" was an original song, he called EMI to tell them to consider the song as Radiohead's next single.
While the recording had minimal overdubs and the band did not intend to release it, the producers were impressed with the song.
Due to similarities to "The Air That I Breathe", a song recorded by The Hollies in 1973, Radiohead was successfully sued for plagiarism. Consequently, Albert Hammond and Mike Hazlewood are credited as co-writers of "Creep".
"Creep" uses a chord progression used in "The Air That I Breathe" in its verse and a melody from "The Air That I Breathe" in the bridge following the second chorus.
According to Yorke, "Creep" tells the tale of an inebriated man who tries to get the attention of a woman to whom he is attracted by following her around. In the end, he lacks the self-confidence to face her and feels he subconsciously is her. When asked about "Creep" in 1993, Yorke said, "I have a real problem being a man in the '90s... Any man with any sensitivity or conscience toward the opposite sex would have a problem. To actually assert yourself in a masculine way without looking like you're in a hard-rock band is a very difficult thing to do... It comes back to the music we write, which is not effeminate, but it's not brutal in its arrogance. It is one of the things I'm always trying: To assert a sexual persona and on the other hand trying desperately to negate it."
Jonny Greenwood said the song was in fact a happy song about "recognizing what you are".
Covers
Frank Bennett released a crooner version in 1996.
Nu metal band Korn performed the song at their MTV Unplugged performance in 2006.
In July 2010, the trailer to the American drama/biography film The Social Network included a cover of "Creep" by Belgian choir group Scala & Kolacny Brothers.
Christian rock band Anberlin covered this song for AOL Sessions Under. The song was eventually released on their compilation album Lost Songs, which was released in November 20, 2007.
Singer/songwriter and actress Carrie Manolakos launched her debut album, Echo, in April 2012, with a concert at Le Poisson Rouge in Greenwich Village. She ended the show with a cover of "Creep", which went viral days later, when it got picked up by Gawker, under the title "Eargasm."
Macy Gray released a version of the song on an album of all covered songs titled "Covered" in March 2012.
The Brazilian actor and singer Wagner Moura, recorded a version of "Creep" to a soundtrack for the movie O Homem do Futuro.
Tripod covered the song in a performance at the NSC in August 2006.
Singer/Songwriter Daniela Andrade covered the song in her album "Covers By Daniela Andrade Vol. 1"
Metal band Sentenced covered the song in the re-issue of Frozen album in 2007.
The song was covered by Dean Geyer and Lea Michele on the 2013 Glee episode "Guilty Pleasures".
Steampunk band Abney Park also covered this song in their album Taxidermy in 2005.
The Pride of Arizona marching band of the University of Arizona performed an arrangement of "Creep" as the second part of their 2012 show titled "Radiohead 2.0" arranged by director Jay C. Rees.
The lyrics:
When you were here before
Couldn't look you in the eye
You're just like an angel
Your skin makes me cry
You float like a feather
In a beautiful whirl
I wish I was special
You're so fucking special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
I don't care if it hurts
I want to have control
I want a perfect body
I want a perfect soul
I want you to notice when I'm not around
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
She's running out the door
She's running
She runs runs runs runs
Runs
Runs
Whatever makes you happy
Whatever you want
You're so fucking special
I wish I was special
But I'm a creep
I'm a weirdo
What the hell am I doing here?
I don't belong here
I don't belong here
