The five best covers of Radiohead’s song ‘Creep’
Ask 100 diehard Radiohead fans what their favourite song was from the Oxfordshire band, and we’d place a hefty sum on the one person who answers with ‘Creep’ being beaten to death with ridicule and disdain by the other 99. Despite being one of the band’s most beloved tracks and quite possibly the defining alt-rock moment of the decade, the group and their fans have, by and large, turned their back on the song. But, that hasn’t stopped countless musicians, and the odd actor, from paying homage to the loner anthem and covering the song in their unique style.
Released three decades ago on September 21st, 1992, the song has transcended the confines of the group’s bloated discography, left behind any notion of being a generational blip and developed into a never-ending moment of human connection and teenage reflection. No matter the decade or country or creed, ‘Creep’ has a way of infiltrating the darkest recesses of one’s esteem and shining a brief moment of alt-rock light onto the shadowy walls. As such, and in celebration of the song, we’ve picked out our favourite covers.
First things first, we need to address the elephant in the room. You may like the song ‘Creep’, but that doesn’t mean Thom Yorke does. The track’s principal creator has rarely showered praise on his own work during his and the band’s career, but he has actively poured cold water on any suggestion of ‘Creep’ emblazoned imprint on the band. ‘Creep’ became an underground hit for the band in the United States, one traced back to one Californian college, who added the song to a radio playlist in San Francisco. A censored version of the number was then released to radio stations, and gradually, it became an American alt-rock anthem.
Over the next couple of years of touring, the band began to lose patience with the track and the sort of clientele it attracted to their concerts. “We seemed to be living out the same four and a half minutes of our lives over and over again. It was incredibly stultifying,” Johnny Greenwood said on those early tours, even recalling how audience members would scream for ‘Creep’ and then leave immediately after it it was performed. Yorke became hostile when ‘Creep’ was mentioned in interviews and then, in the weeks after, began to refuse requests to play it live. Things escalated one night in Montreal when Yorke shouted at the audience, “Fuck off, we’re tired of it.” The lead singer even dismissed fans demanding to hear it as “anally retarded”, and they have played it on less than half a dozen occasions since.
But that wasn’t always the case. In 1993, when the song truly exploded thanks to heavy rotation on MTV, Yorke opened up about the composition: “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.”
This notion can be heard in every note of Yorke’s vocal and every wail from the band that backs him. This sentiment has also seen the song reach almost every corner of the globe in some facet or another, inspiring millions and reaching the canon of some of our favourite artists. Below, we’ve picked out five of our favourites.
The five best covers of Radiohead’s song ‘Creep’:
Weezer
Rivers Cuomo and his band are one such outfit you’d imagine to have been wholly affected by Radiohead and their alt-rock anthem. The group began their journies at similar times, and it’s hard to imagine that ‘Creep’ hadn’t infiltrated their musical lexicon. It seems fitting then that the group should deliver the kind of cover that you might expect to hear at a huge reunion of all your high school friends.
Sat around a figurative campfire, Weezer deliver a sing-a-long rendition of the song, providing over 200 people with a moment they’ll never forget that includes tambourines and a whole mess of guitars. For that reason, it also gives the tune a paradoxical edge, providing a take on a loner anthem buoyed by hundreds of other people.
Macy Gray
The gravel-toned soul singer Macy Gray may not be the first Radiohead fan you think of, but her take on the track for her album Covered is one of the best around. Plumped up by Gray’s uncanny vocal, the song is rich with texture and somehow feels more authentic than any other cover on our list. When she sings these poignant lyrics, droning synths, and the guitars kick in with a futuristic scythe, it feels something close to Yorke’s sentiment in the original.
It may be Gray’s position on the peripheries of mainstream pop or just her connection to this song, but there’s something natural about this rendition that few others possess.
Prince
The late singer, performer, and all-around artistic juggernaut, Prince had an on-off relationship with the internet during his all too brief time with us. The artist, at moments, threw himself into the virtual world and, at others, found its lack of personality abhorrent. For years, the moment he and his illustrious band covered Radiohead’s mega-hit ‘Creep’ at Coachella in 2008 remained only in the memories of those who attended the event.
A naturally sombre yet distinctly flourished and polished affair, Prince’s version of the ’90s hit is at times euphoric and ascending, and at others so drenched in melancholy that you’d be forgiven Prince was actually a young, down-and-out student in his dorm room wailing away. Vocally at polar opposites of the spectrum, Prince’s smooth version of the song does lack a certain edge which Yorke’s estranged and detached performance nearly always provides
Arlo Parks
Sometimes, on very rare occasions, covers can make you forget the originals. Some covers become originals instantly, whether it is new instrumentation, a new perspective or a refreshed reflection after time. Think Nirvana’s cover of David Bowie’s hit ‘Man Who Sold The World’ or Jimi Hendrix’s take on Bob Dylan’s ditty, ‘All Along the Watchtower’. Now, you can add Arlo Park’s cover of Creep’ to that powerful list.
‘Creep’ a song permeated by the continuous MTV airplay it received — and the jocks who loved it because of that — is given a breath of fresh air from Parks. One of the finest singers of her generation, Parks brings fragility and vulnerability in bucket loads. It was a theme that Yorke once balanced with crashing riffs, but, without them, Parks’ vocal tone reigns supreme.
Pretenders
Chrissie Hynde has always known a hit when she heard one. One of rock and roll’s unstoppable forces, with her band The Pretenders, she latched on to ‘Creep’ only a few years after it became a juggernaut hit. It’s a bold move that few without Hynde’s credentials could ever attempt. However, Hynde isn’t afraid of much, and the backlash of Britpop’s new army was low down on the list of scary opponents.
Eventually released in 2006 as part of their compilation album Pirate Radio, the Pretenders gave several bone-chilling performances of the track before being released. While there’s not much here that differs from the original arrangement, in the hands of Hynde, and with the addition of strings, the track soars.
