Week Eighty-One: Radiohead - "Creep" - Pablo Honey

In my humble opinion, the early 90s was such a phenomenal time for rock music. The grunge sound found mainstream success. The Britpop bands were also in full swing, and Radiohead hit the scene in the States with Pablo Honey. As a result, their tune, “Creep”, became the anthem of any person who was displaced, misplaced, and just plain out-of-place.

At first, it was kind of difficult to even put Radiohead into a genre. The guitar in “Creep” sounded awfully grunge-inspired to me, but some other favorites on the album were leaning more towards Britpop. I just considered Radiohead to be a bit of an anomaly for the time that they appeared on the scene. Much like the people who seemed to rally behind the song, “Creep”, they were just kind of out-of-place at that time.

With Radiohead's later releases, it became much easier to tuck them away into an alternative rock genre. Regardless, “Creep” spoke volumes to me. I was so socially awkward and definitely could relate to the “What the hell am I doing here?; I don't belong here” bit. The song completely encompassed the loneliness and desperation I was feeling, and even though I have read that the band refused to play the song live for many years, I still appreciate them for writing it.

I saw this comment on their YouTube video about a year ago, and I saved it in a file for when I was ready to post about this song because it made me chuckle: “I don't know what my generation did to music, but I want to apologize for all the teenagers that murdered good music.”

When you were here before

Couldn't look you in the eye

You're just like an angel

Your skin makes me cry

You float like a feather

In a beautiful whirl

I wish I was special

You're so very special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

I don't care if it hurts

I want to have control

I want a perfect body

I want a perfect soul

I want you to notice when I'm not around

You're so very special

I wish I was special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

She's running out the door

She's running

She runs runs runs runs

Runs

Runs

Whatever makes you happy

Whatever you want

You're so very special

I wish I was special

But I'm a creep

I'm a weirdo

What the hell am I doing here?

I don't belong here

I don't belong here