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Creep (Radiohead song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Creep" | |||||
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| Single by Radiohead from the album Pablo Honey |
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| Released | 1992, 1993 | ||||
| Format | Green 7", 4 CDs | ||||
| Recorded | ? | ||||
| Genre | Alternative rock | ||||
| Length | 3:59 | ||||
| Label | Parlophone EMI |
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| Writer | Thom Yorke | ||||
| Producer | Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie |
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| Radiohead singles chronology | |||||
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"Creep" is the first single (not counting the Drill EP) released by the English rock band Radiohead, and a track on their 1993 debut album Pablo Honey. When it was first given limited release in September 1992, Radio 1 found it "too depressing",[1] and removed it from their playlist after airing it only twice. However, it subsequently became one of the band's biggest hits, and became their sole Top 40 hit in the United States despite the success of their further albums in the country. It is featured in the game Rock Band.
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Thom Yorke wrote the song while studying at Exeter University. According to him, it tells the tale of an inebriated man who tries to get the attention of a woman he is attracted to by following her around. In the end, he 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."[2]
The song has been released in several versions because the original contains the phrase "you're so fucking special"; a radio edit which replaces this with "you're so very special" appears on several compilations and is a bonus track on the American version of Pablo Honey. Yorke has apparently said that the band was displeased with this edit, which had led to the song losing its anger. Other versions of "Creep" released as B-sides include a performance from the Town & Country Club in London on 14 March 1993 (also on a Japanese reissue of Pablo Honey), and a solo version performed by Yorke on acoustic guitar for KROQ in Los Angeles on 13 July 1993 with the clean version of the lyrics, which was also included on the EPs Itch and My Iron Lung in various territories.
The single is generally credited with catapulting the band to world-wide renown, but met with little success in the UK when it was first released in 1992. The band soon moved onto a second single, "Anyone Can Play Guitar", to promote the album Pablo Honey, and released a one-off single, "Pop Is Dead", as they began a world tour in 1993.
In late March 1993 they flew to Israel for their first taste of fame following "Creep"'s unexpected success there as a result of heavy airplay on Galei Tzahal. Late in May they flew to the USA and met with more success: a San Francisco radio station had picked up the song, and little by little "Creep" permeated the nation's airwaves. Thom Yorke described the situation:
- My first memory of getting to America was that we drove overnight from Paris, caught the ferry, drove to Heathrow, then flew to New York. So in 20 hours we covered Paris, New York and London, and then we drove straight out to Boston. I woke up on a coach, walked into this hotel in Boston at seven o'clock in the morning, switched on MTV, and there was "Creep"! It was like, 'Oh my God..[3].
"Creep" was not a hit at home in the UK until it was reissued in September that year, making number 7 in the pop charts. This was almost a year after the first release, and by this time the song's popularity had spread worldwide.
Some attribute "Creep"'s success to its capture of the slacker zeitgeist of the early 1990s (which had a similar effect on Beck's "Loser", and had previously catapulted Nirvana and the grunge movement into the mainstream). If so, it was a double-edged success, quickly earning the band the reputation of "complaint rockers" and leading to speculation that they were one-hit wonders. The video for "Creep" appeared on MTV's Beavis and Butt-head, but this is not necessarily a measure of popularity.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Creep" at number 15 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
The original melody was taken and retooled from a song "The Air That I Breathe" written by Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood in the 70s. Hammond and Hazelwood share the songwriting credits and royalties.
"Creep" is widely recognized for the three blasts of guitar noise that precede the chorus. During initial practice sessions for the song, guitarist Jonny Greenwood was apparently fed up with the song's slow pace and attempted to sabotage the song by inserting this noise; Ed O'Brien said "That's the sound of Jonny trying to fuck the song up.. He really didn't like it the first time we played it, so he tried spoiling it. And it made the song."[4]
When they were first demonstrating their songs for producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie, one of the band described "Creep" as "our Scott Walker song" and they misunderstood and initially dismissed it, thinking that it was a cover version.
The first Radiohead gigs were attended primarily for the performance of "Creep"; if they tried to play anything else, the crowd didn't want to hear it, and the band soon started to resent playing it. This led to the band's creation of "My Iron Lung", which featured as the title song of their next release, My Iron Lung EP (1994), and as track 8 on their second album The Bends (1995). This track deals with how "Creep" was the song they relied on, how it was their "life-support", their "iron lung". Thom explained in an interview that they didn't want to stop playing it as that would be making a big deal about it, however he often made comments before the song on stage which suggested he had little respect for anyone who wanted to hear it.
After mid 1998 they did not play the song live at all until the final encore of their hometown concert at South Park in Headington in Oxford in 2001, when they played it in a seemingly impromptu decision after an equipment failure on the keyboard near the start of "Motion Picture Soundtrack". Since then they have played it 15 more times (including a performance of the song as they headlined V Festival 2006)[citation needed].
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To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (December 2007) |
"Creep", as Radiohead's most widely known song, has been covered by numerous bands and singers.
- Gina Jeffreys performed a live version on the Andrew Denton breakfast program on Sydney's Triple M during The Musical Challenge. Accompanied by her husband Rod McCormack on guitar, the song was performed in Gina's traditional country music style, and was included on the release of The Musical Challenge CD
- Scarling. covered "Creep", for its 2003 single Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole.
- The Pretenders covered "Creep", a live version is included on their "Kid" EP.
- Tears for Fears covered "Creep" live and it appears as a b-side on their single, "Raoul And The Kings Of Spain" (Epic 1995), but the band didn't credit Radiohead.
- Japanese singer ACO has also covered this song on her single "heart wo moyashite."
- Japanese singer Shiina Ringo has also covered this song live at Club Asia in Shibuya and Ritsumei Kan in Kyoto, which have both since circulated the net.
- In 2004 Damien Rice recorded an acoustic version of "Creep" at an Irish radio station, which has since circulated the net. He also occasionally performs the song live at his concerts.
- 30 Foot Fall perform a cover of the song on 1998's Serial Killer compilation.
- Sophie Koh has covered the song, and can be found on Triple J's cover compilation record "Like a Version"
- Moby has covered the song on various occasions, including a performance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and at the 2003 Glastonbury Festival, which Radiohead headlined.
- Grunge band Pearl Jam covered the song with modified lyrics.
- This song was also covered by Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine on his 2000 album, Lounge Against the Machine and on his 2006 album called, "The Sunny Side of the Moon: The Best of Richard Cheese".
- Jeff Buckley once did a cover of "Creep" in one of his live performances.
- A version 'sung' by Macintosh SimpleText voice 'Fred' (also heard in Radiohead's "Fitter Happier") was released on Me and This Army, an album of Radiohead remixes.
- Marty Casey of the Lovehammers performed "Creep" on the television show Rock Star: INXS in 2005.
- Lukas Rossi from the band Rise Electric performed "Creep" on the reality television show Rock Star: Supernova in 2006. He played it as an encore as well.
- Magni Asgeirsson of the Icelandic band Á Móti Sól performed "Creep" in an Elimination Episode on the reality television show Rock Star: Supernova in 2006. His cover is also featured on his new solo album, Magni.
- Frank Bennett recorded an easy listening version on his album Five O'Clock Shadow.
- Beck did a cover version at the Virgin V Festival and an acoustic version at the 2006 Bonnaroo Music Festival
- U2 frequently included a snippet of the song at the end of "Elevation" on their Elevation Tour in 2001.
- G4, of X Factor fame, sang it for their first album.
- Scala, a Belgian teenage cover choir, sang the song on their album "On the Rocks". They have also covered Radiohead's "Exit Music (For a Film)" and "Everything in Its Right Place".
- Australian alternative rock band The Final Straw recorded a cover to be released on their 2007 self titled EP.
- The winner of Australian Idol Damien Leith performed the song in 2006
- In 2007, Korn covered it live on MTV Unplugged.
- Anberlin covered "Creep" during an acoustic performance on AOL Sessions.
- "Creep" was used by Patrick Kielty as a closing song for the 1997 Channel 4 gameshow Last Chance Lottery.
- Sad Kermit did a cover of "Creep" available on his website
- Brandi Carlile has done a cover of "Creep" on tour
- Filipino rock band Parokya ni Edgar parodies the songs, called Trip. The song explains a man's love for siopao, but hates it when there's nothing inside.
- David Wrench covered the song but was denied permission to release it, despite tracking Thom Yorke down to ask him personally.
- Züri West recorded a french version on their Album Züri West as hidden track
- There is a widely-circulated recording of Radiohead playing an acoustic version of "Creep", which has been mislabelled as a cover of "Creep" by Muse (who have never covered the song).
- InMe have also covered this song
- The Cure also covered this song at a Live show
- The song was also featured in episode 66 of South Park, Scott Tenorman Must Die, after Cartman sings the lyrics to the song Creep in order to help Jimbo and Ned remember who the band was.
UK original release
- "Creep" - 3:55
- "Lurgee" - 3:07
- "Inside My Head" - 3:12
- "Million Dollar Question" - 3:18
- "Creep" music video with lyrics
- 1993 Melody Maker Interview about "Creep"
- Creep single tracklists
- A music video based on the characters of Low Morale
Categories: Single articles with infobox field chart position | All articles with unsourced statements | Articles with unsourced statements since June 2007 | Cleanup from December 2007 | Articles with sections that need to be turned into prose | 1993 singles | Radiohead songs | Parlophone singles | Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine songs