Creep: A History

Radiohead's 'Creep'

Creep, an alternative rock song by Radiohead, took the world by storm in the early 90’s,

but what is the story behind this song, and what is it actually about?

Radiohead is a British-alternative rock band that made many songs over the course of the 90’s and the 2000’s, their most popular being Creep, from their debut album Pablo Honey, reaching more than 2 billion listens on Spotify.

In the song, the lead singer of Radiohead (Thom Yorke) talks about a girl he saw in college, who he thought was drop-dead gorgeous (as described in the lyric ‘you’re just like an angel, your skin makes me cry’) but never interacted with her, and how he started following her, but as he did, his self confidence plummeted and he started thinking of himself as a creep. 

When the song was released, it initially flopped in the UK, getting banned from  BBC Radio One, but when it hit the USA it skyrocketed in popularity. However, despite its popularity, the band later said that they hated it, because they felt like it was too simple for them, and that it didn’t represent their artistic vision.

 In their later album ‘The Bends’ the band explores Creep’s rapid rise to popularity and their struggle to escape the high expectations set from their most popular song, and created it to move away from the worlds impression of the band due to Creep.

Later on tour, Thom Yorke would get impatient and annoyed when somebody requested for them to play Creep, and even denied requests. 

In conclusion, Creep is one of the most popular songs in the world, and yet is still hated by its band, with an entire album being made in attempt to shift away from its lasting impression