Creep (Radiohead song)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Creep" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Radiohead | ||
| from the album Pablo Honey | ||
| Released | 1992, 1993 | |
| Format | Green 7", 5 CDs | |
| Recorded | ? | |
| Genre | Alternative rock | |
| Length | 3 min 59 s | |
| Label | Parlophone/EMI | |
| Producer(s) | Sean Slade, Paul Q. Kolderie |
|
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Radiohead singles chronology | ||
| "Creep" (1993) |
"Anyone Can Play Guitar" (1993) |
|
"Creep" is the first single (not counting the Drill EP) from 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, and so after being aired only twice, it was taken off the station's playlist, but it subsequently became the band's biggest hit.
Contents |
[edit] Meaning
Thom Yorke explains the song saying that he wrote it while studying at Exeter University. 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 lacks the self-confidence to pull it off. Although he usually referred to the drunken student in the third person, with no little contempt, sometimes outright denying it was him, he sometimes admitted it was. [citation needed]
[edit] Versions
The song has been released in several versions because the original contains the phrase "fucking special"; a radio edit (on which this is replaced by "very special") appears on several compilations and is a bonus track on the American version of Pablo Honey. Allegedly Yorke has said that the band isn't pleased about this edit, saying that the song had lost its anger as a result. Other versions of Creep release by Radiohead on 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 version performed by Thom solo 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.
[edit] Reaction
The single is generally credited with catapulting the band to world-wide renown. In late March 1993 they flew to Israel for their first taste of fame following its success there as a result of heavy airplay on Galei Tzahal, and late in May they flew to the USA for more success-- a San Francisco radio station had picked it up, and little by little "Creep" had permeated the nation's airwaves. It was not a hit at home in the UK until it was reissued in September that year, 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 loser/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. However, the video for "Creep" was popular enough to appear on MTV's Beavis and Butt-Head.
In March 2005, Q magazine placed "Creep" at number 15 in its list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Tracks.
[edit] Melody
The song is widely recognized for the two blasts of guitar noise that precede the chorus. The story goes that during initial runs of the song, guitarist Jonny Greenwood was fed up with the slow pace of the song and that this was his way of showing his displeasure.
When they were first running through 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 it was a cover version.
The song is similar to the 1974 song "The Air That I Breathe" by The Hollies. The songs have an almost identical bass line, and the verses have the same chord structure and a similar melody. As a result the publishing credits also include Albert Hammond and Mike Hazelwood in addition to the five Radiohead members.
[edit] Performances
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. (Ironically on the live version available which predates the song's success he can be heard bemoaning the fact that it wasn't a hit.)
After a Vancouver concert at which Yorke angrily rebuffed a listener request to play "Creep", the Canadian folk rock band Spirit of the West wrote and recorded "Let the Ass Bray", which chided Radiohead for alienating their audience by refusing to play what was, at the time of the concert, their only well-known single. This song appeared on Spirit of the West's 1996 album Open Heart Symphony.
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). It is rare to attend a Radiohead concert and hear Creep played.
[edit] Cover versions
- 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.
- 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".
- Jessicka Fodera's new band Scarling. covered "Creep" and it can be found on their single "Band Aid Covers the Bullet Hole"
- The song inspired this animation from Laith Bahrani.
- Jeff Buckley once did a cover of "Creep" in one of his live performances.
- Curanderos, a Mexican band, sang "Perro", a Spanish version of "Creep".
- The Filipino band Parokya ni Edgar, famous for their comic themes, recorded the song "Trip" (a tribute to the Chinese delicacy siopao) using "Creep"'s melody.
- 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.
- Frank Bennett recorded an easy listening version on his album Five O'Clock Shadow.
- Dustin Kensrue played the song on one of his solo tours.
- The Arrogant Sons of Bitches played the song live on August 13, 2005
- The Scottish singer Carol Laula recorded a cover for her 2002 album, First Disciple.
- Beck did a cover version at the Virgin V Festival and an acoustic version at the 2006 Bonnarro Music Festival
- U2 frequently snippetted the song at the end of "Elevation" on their Elevation Tour in 2001.
- Curanderos, a Mexican band, sang "Perro", a Spanish version of "Creep".
- G4 (band), 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".
- Rapper Chino XL created a song by the name of Kreep sampling the lines "I'm a creep, I'm a loser, you're so very special, I wish I was special".
- Australian alternative rock band The Final Straw recorded a cover to be released on their 2007 self titled EP.
- There is a video on YouTube that plays the song Creep along with clips of Oz prisoner Donald Groves
