Song · Pablo Honey era (1992–93)
Inside My Head
It was in the running for the debut single, until the band played “Creep” between takes.
1992
the intended single
It was one of the first songs they wrote after signing to EMI, about being picked up by a major label and leaving the part-time jobs behind, and for Thom Yorke about one shop in particular.
about getting in a car and ramming the shop where I used to work. I just wanted to do that so badly.
thom yorke, via this site's 2003 lyrics page
At Chipping Norton, the producers Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie spent days trying to get a usable take of this and “Lurgee”, because EMI had one of them in mind for the debut single. Neither worked. Between attempts the band played “Creep” to themselves, and “Creep” became the single.
It went out as a B-side on “Creep” on 21 September 1992, and turned up on later formats of that single in live and acoustic versions, one of them the JBTV recording from the Metro in Chicago on 30 June 1993.
1992–96
on the floor
On stage it was fast and loud, and Yorke did not always stay put for it. Pop Is Dead, a fanzine, reported that in Sheffield on the spring tour of 1993 he opened the night with an attack on the music press and then sang this from among the audience. At the Metro in Chicago that June the JBTV crew filming the show caught him falling over during it.
It was in the set 29 times that year, and it ended the night six times before it was dropped after Villeurbanne on 17 April 1996. In Toronto on 12 December 1995 it was the last song, and Yorke told the crowd it was one of the first they wrote as a professional band, back when they hated record companies.
This is our song. We do this cuz we like it. It's really fast and I get to crawl around on the floor.
thom yorke, on stage in toronto, 12 december 1995, via this site's 2003 lyrics page
on stage
Live at Reading Festival, August 1994.· IDIOTEQ.com Videoswatch on youtube →
the record(1)
on stage(3)
Live history
| Times played | 46 shows |
|---|---|
| Live debut | Friday 27 March 1992 · London |
| Last played | Wednesday 17 April 1996 · Villeurbanne |
| Closed the night | 6 times |
Nights played include broadcasts; opened and closed count gigs only. A cancelled night has no setlist. All setlist stats →
Tabs (2)
sources7
- Wikipedia, “Creep (Radiohead song)”, for the single's formats.
- The “Creep” CD reissue, Parlophone CDR 6359, September 1993, whose sleeve credits the live track to JBTV at the Metro.
- Mac Randall, Exit Music: The Radiohead Story, on the Chipping Norton sessions.
- This site's own preserved 2003 lyrics pages, for what the song is about, the Metro version and the Toronto introduction.
- Pop Is Dead fanzine, July 1993, for Sheffield.
- The Internet Archive's copy of the JBTV film of the Metro, Chicago, 30 June 1993, for the fall.
- The site's live archive, for every date.