Creep

“Creep” was the debut single of a British rock band “Radiohead”, appearing on their first album “Pablo Honey”, released in 1993.

The track as written by members of the band but has different meanings to each of them. Thom Yorke (vocalist in Radiohead) was asked about “Creep” in 1993 interview, and said this: “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.” However, according to lead guitarist Johnny Greenwood, the track is about “recognizing what you are”. Despite the popularity of the song over the years, the band grew to hate the track and rarely play it live anymore. There were issues with the song being played on the radio because of the line “you’re so f**king special”, therefore leading Radiohead to change it to “so very special”, which they weren’t happy out as they felt like they would be “selling out”. By the time the band made it to the States, they were surprised but e success of the song, and Yorke asked many journalists if they really understood the message behind the song, asking if it was “a joke” that the track was so successful.

The music video was directed by Brett Turnbull and released in 1993. It features the band playing the song on stage in front of a crowd, with very simple cinematography and lighting. The official music video was uploaded to Radiohead’s YouTube channel in July 2008, and has almost 300 million views, and over 1.4 million likes.

Release Date: 21st September 1992

Songwriter/s: Radiohead, Albert Hammond & Mike Hazlewood

Producer/s: Sean Slade & Paul Q. Kolderie

Label/s: Parlophone / EMI

Music Video Release Date: 1993

Music Video Director: Brett Turnbull

Chart Rankings, Certifications & Accolades: The track reached the mainstream charts in Australia, Belgium, France, the UK and the US. It received Gold certification in Australia and Canada, Platinum in the UK and double Platinum in Italy.