"You're so very special"

April 19, 2015 10:56 AM

Radiohead's Creep covered in a wonderful mid-20th century style by Haley Reinhart and the band Postmodern Jukebox. [previously | via]
posted by quin (36 comments total)

As much as I understand they tried to convey the same emotion from the original, I had high hopes from the first seconds that it would be a mostly restrained, mournful, almost dispassionate take on the song. Don't really have the music vocabulary to say it properly, maybe something like Dinah Washington's This Bitter Earth... but there are probably better examples.
posted by infinitelives at 11:15 AM on April 19, 2015 [3 favorites]

In typical Kanye fashion, I will let you finish, but this version of Royals is and always will be their best cover.
posted by sparkletone at 11:17 AM on April 19, 2015 [14 favorites]

Nothing -- including the original -- will ever top Daniel Mustard's version for me, not least because of the genuine anguish underlying the performance.
posted by Rhaomi at 11:36 AM on April 19, 2015 [13 favorites]

Needs more Richard Cheese.

I'll have the special!
posted by gimonca at 11:47 AM on April 19, 2015 [4 favorites]

It felt rushed to me. I loved the voice, but I felt that they could have taken a little more time, to set the mood.

For what it's worth, this is my favourite version (Radiohead, acoustic, neat animation).
posted by YAMWAK at 11:52 AM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

I'm very partial to the Scala and the Kolacny Brothers cover of Creep, myself, but that was enjoyable.
posted by atomo at 11:58 AM on April 19, 2015 [5 favorites]

I had high hopes from the first seconds that it would be a mostly restrained, mournful, almost dispassionate take on the song. Don't really have the music vocabulary to say it properly....

You don't need musical vocabulary to express what this got wrong. Just regular vocabulary:

Subtlety is dead.
posted by aureliobuendia at 12:00 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm always a little disappointed when I watch a Postmodern Jukebox cover and there's no tambourine guy.
posted by a hat out of hell at 12:36 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you are looking for a PMJ cover with a stronger point of view, I can recommend "Blank Space", ft. Ariana Savalas.
posted by He Is Only The Imposter at 12:50 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

When the post said mid-century, I was pleasantly surprised to hear some nice torch song jazz, but I was also secretly hoping for some doo-wop covers like Big Daddy, Eye of the Tiger or Godfrey Daniel, Whole Lotta Love.
posted by jonp72 at 12:55 PM on April 19, 2015

Wow, Rhaomi, that Daniel Mustard version is mesmerizing.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 1:16 PM on April 19, 2015

@atomo I'm with you. The Scala and the Kolacny Brothers cover is the one that does it for me.
posted by e40 at 1:19 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Lots of cool links, The Scala is beautiful in a creepy way (or the other way around) and Ariana Savalas is a fine singer ! Thanks !
posted by nicolin at 1:22 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

Two creep posts in a row? Creepy.
posted by ckape at 1:33 PM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

A thousand times yes, sparkletone. For the chorus alone, but also this.

I still hate the truck-driver gear change PMJ often does, though.
posted by a halcyon day at 1:53 PM on April 19, 2015

Thanks for all the great links reminding me how good PMJ can be. I'd rather forget this Creep cover. And thanks for the Belgian womens choir version!
posted by intermod at 2:10 PM on April 19, 2015

I still prefer this version of 'Creep'. Although I also get all tight in the pants when I hear her voice, so I may be biased.
posted by ZaneJ. at 2:30 PM on April 19, 2015

Speaking as somebody who watched American Idol religiously for the first 12 seasons, I've been delighted at seeing Haley Reinhart and Casey Abrams join up with PMJ.

Idol Season 10 flashbacks:
In which Haley takes on "House of the Rising Sun."
In which Casey sticks to his guns with an utterly idiosyncratic song choice. That it was a terrible song choice is almost beside the point. (song starts at 1:27)
posted by Shmuel510 at 3:40 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

The only Radiohead cover that I've ever really liked is Gnarls Barkley's cover of Reckoner. (And the Scala and the Kolacny Brothers cover of Creep)
posted by adso at 4:13 PM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

And once again the noise that introduces the chorus is treated as if it were a sound effect that can be left out- not replaced or translated, just removed. See also the industrial elements removed from every single cover of Single Ladies.
posted by idiopath at 4:45 PM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

I don't know how I got from here to there, but the Dixieland cover of Sweet Child of Mine made my day
posted by hwestiii at 4:50 PM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

Shouldn't have augmented the phrase length of the chorus. I was rolling with them on the shortened phrase in the verse and then all of the sudden the chorus took up fuckin' WAY too much time. Plus the faux "Amy Winehouse on Quaaludes" thing wasn't doing it for me either.
posted by ReeMonster at 5:44 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

It's okay but not as good as the Scala, which is the top-notch cover for that song of the ones I've heard (there's at least one new to me in the links here). I agree that a more subtle take on the song might have been better.

PMJ rarely missteps completely. Out of their oeuvre, the only one I've heard that I actually thought was outright poorly done instead of just "could have been better" was Paper Planes.
posted by immlass at 5:52 PM on April 19, 2015

sparkletone: “In typical Kanye fashion, I will let you finish, but this version of Royals is and always will be their best cover.”

It's good, but it's not even the best song that Puddles has done with Scott Bradlee's Postmodern Jukebox. The best song Puddles has done with them (and the best song I think they've ever done, period) is their cover of Sia's "Chandelier," a song which bored me in the original but actually just about brings me to tears when I hear their cover.
posted by koeselitz at 6:49 PM on April 19, 2015 [1 favorite]

(I mean, goddamned. The way Puddles leans back and glares bleakly down his nose at you after the last note of "Chandelier," murder and suicide in his eyes, as though all his faith in humanity or love or whatever it is people have faith in has been drained out of him like so much blood flowing from a vein, is like getting punched in the gut by a sad giant.)
posted by koeselitz at 6:54 PM on April 19, 2015 [4 favorites]

It should also be noted that this is PMJ's second run at "Creep." They previously did it with Karen Marie.
posted by Shmuel510 at 7:30 PM on April 19, 2015

Oh, and before that, Scott Bradlee did a piano mashup of "Creep" with Rihanna's "We Found Love."
posted by Shmuel510 at 8:42 PM on April 19, 2015

Call me crazy but I kind of like the Radiohead version.
posted by Justinian at 9:29 PM on April 19, 2015 [7 favorites]

I really liked Haley Reinhart's album, and good to hear her still belting them out. You can see these from the linked Youtube videos, but she's also collaborated with PMJ on Tove Lo's Habits as well as an All About That Bass cover.
posted by Metro Gnome at 10:25 PM on April 19, 2015

The best song Puddles has done with them (and the best song I think they've ever done, period) is their cover of Sia's "Chandelier,"

I love that one and it really hit me emotionally too the first time I heard it, but I'd still pick the Lorde cover. The Sia cover is something the saddest singing clown ever should totally be doing. The triumphant nature of Royals (only slightly tinged with sadness) adds an extra layer of incongruity that for whatever reason makes me love it more than playing the sad clown concept straight.

That said, don't get me wrong, I'd happily listen to that dude sing randomly selected Wikipedia entries. It's a small matter of degree.
posted by sparkletone at 10:49 PM on April 19, 2015 [2 favorites]

This thread introduced me to Sia and Maddie Ziegler. The original Chandelier video is amazing.
posted by fivebells at 11:29 PM on April 19, 2015

Not their best, but PMJ is overall a very entertaining project. I really want to dismiss them for being gimmicky but honestly a lot of their covers are just really, really fun. And that Sad Clown Royals cover is great!
posted by Doleful Creature at 11:34 PM on April 19, 2015

I am by no means a RH fan in general, but I like "Creep" a lot. I like a lot of covers I've heard of "Creep." But ones that use "clean" lyrics annoy me, a lot more so than bowdlerized versions of other songs I like.

The song obviously conveys a lot of self-hatred, but there's also just a touch of hatred, along with the obvious desire, for the object of the song, which is conveyed in the line "You're so fuckin' special." That adds a lot of depth to the lyrics, I think. The alternate version, "You're so very special" misses that entirely. I understand it has to be done for TV and radio; but on the internet, or for album release, c'mon.
posted by DevilsAdvocate at 3:45 AM on April 20, 2015 [1 favorite]

I had hope PMJ was just using a few covers to introduce themselves to the world and would then do something original and awesome.
posted by Theta States at 7:12 AM on April 20, 2015

Oh man, if we're sharing our favorite Radiohead covers, let me proselytize for the Easy Star All-Stars reggae cover of Let Down featuring TOOTS MAYTAL.
posted by zeusianfog at 9:09 PM on April 20, 2015

Here’s the 8-bit version of Creep,, which MeFites will remember from this post.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 9:27 PM on April 20, 2015