Creep

About

Robbie Williams first performed Radiohead’s 1992 single Creep during the television special Robbie Williams: One Night at the Palladium, recorded at the London Palladium and broadcast on BBC One in November 2013. The show marked his return to a classic variety format, mixing originals, big band numbers and selected covers.

The arrangement of Creep was built for a full theatre orchestra, departing from Radiohead’s alternative rock instrumentation. Williams introduced the song as a dramatic set piece, with strings and brass replacing the original’s quiet loud dynamic shifts while retaining the melodic contour of Thom Yorke’s vocal line.

Williams’s interpretation emphasised the ballad elements of the song, giving the verses a slower, more crooning delivery before raising intensity for the chorus. The performance used orchestral swells to underscore the lyric’s themes of displacement and self doubt, presenting the track within the show’s broader cabaret framework.

It is such a beautiful song, and doing it with the orchestra gives it a completely different feel.Robbie Williams

The cover drew attention for its contrast with the rest of the programme’s swing leaning repertoire. Critics noted it as one of the evening’s more unexpected choices, illustrating Williams’s willingness to reinterpret contemporary songs within a theatrical setting.