It’s no secret that Radiohead quickly got sick of the unintentional success of “Creep”. The band refused to play it live for years before eventually coming back to it, but Thom Yorke often felt vehement when it was requested at shows. It was their biggest hit, but the one they hated the most for its mainstream popularity. Additionally, they felt it was overplayed during their long, grueling tour in the early 90s.
Radiohead eventually dusted the song off in 2016 after refusing to play it for almost a decade. But in those years, “Creep” only grew in popularity. These three cover songs, however, subvert the song’s original tone that struck a chord with losers everywhere and was deemed “too depressing” by the BBC.
Timo Räisänen
Swedish singer Timo Räisänen performed a cover of Radiohead’s “Creep” in 2008 on På Spåret, a long-running live Swedish game show. There’s not much retrospective information about the appearance or why Räisänen performed the song there. But that year he released the cover album …And Then There Was Timo, which featured his rendition of “Creep”. Also in 2008, he was voted Best Live Artist of the year at the P3 Guld gala in Sweden, and it’s clear that he earned it when watching this live performance.
The composition is interesting as well. In the first chorus, the band kicks into a bit of a march, with some light snare action. The brevity of the instrumentation paired with Räisänen’s steady, polished vocals brightens the typically dour theme of the original song. Not enough to completely erase it, but it lightens it up a bit.
The Pretenders
The Pretenders first performed “Creep” around 1995, and it was only played during a few live shows. A live recording was released on The Isle of View album that year, which was included on the 2006 career-spanning box set Pirate Radio. Even with the song’s limited availability, it’s still a great Radiohead cover that changed the tone just enough.
Chrissie Hynde’s vocals add a touch of vulnerability to the lyrics, subverting the original, if possibly unintentional, tone. In Hynde’s voice, “Creep” goes from loser anthem to tender ballad, imbued with new sentiment.
Daniel “Homeless” Mustard
Daniel Mustard played a transcendent cover of the Radiohead hit around 2009. With only his acoustic guitar and raspy, weathered voice, Mustard impressed the hosts of the Opie and Anthony radio show. Mustard, who was homeless, was chosen to participate in a charity show with the radio hosts, but when that fell through, a “Homeless Talent Show” was improvised.
Mustard’s background as a musician allowed him to transform “Creep” into a powerful, almost angry song. His voice is soft in one moment and forceful in the next. Additionally, his phrasing choices added a raw quality to the arrangement. It feels a bit spontaneous, and the unexpected, inspired alterations create an entirely different tone.
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