"Creep" is a song by American rock band

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots

Stone Temple Pilots is an American rock band from San Diego, California that consists of Scott Weiland , brothers Robert DeLeo and Dean DeLeo , and Eric Kretz ....

, appearing as the seventh track off the band's debut album, Core

Core (Stone Temple Pilots album)

The album was released on September 29, 1992 on Atlantic, the same day Alice in Chains released Dirt, another important album of the grunge era. Despite high sales, the album received mixed to negative reviews. Critics blasted the band as "rip-offs" of grunge bands such as Pearl Jam and Alice in...

and later released as a single. The song also appears on the band's greatest hits album, Thank You

Thank You (Stone Temple Pilots album)

-Charts:Album - Billboard Singles - Billboard -References:...

.

Music video

There were two videos shot for Creep, the first by director Gus Van Sant

Gus Van Sant

Gus Green Van Sant, Jr. is an American director, screenwriter, painter, photographer, musician, and author. He is a two time nominee of the Academy Award for Best Director for his 1997 film Good Will Hunting and his 2008 film Milk, both of which were also nominated for Best Picture, and won the...

 but that video was originally shelved due to its drug and sexual references.

Lyrical Content

The song's lyrics were written by lead vocalist Scott Weiland

Scott Weiland

Scott Weiland is an American musician, lyricist, and vocalist, most notable for his work with Grammy Award-winning rock band Stone Temple Pilots. Weiland is also known for his five-year career with supergroup Velvet Revolver as well as his own solo career...

 and bassist Robert DeLeo

Robert DeLeo

Robert Emile DeLeo is an American bass player, songwriter, and harmony vocalist for the rock band Stone Temple Pilots. He has also played in Talk Show and Army of Anyone...

. DeLeo also wrote the song's music. DeLeo stated the following about "Creep:"

Musically speaking I was thinking about a song along the lines of 'Heart Of Gold

Heart of Gold (song)

"Heart of Gold" is a song by Canadian singer-songwriter Neil Young. Released from the 1972 album Harvest, it is so far Young's only U.S. #1 single. In Canada, it reached #1 on the RPM national singles chart for the first time on April 8, 1972, on which date Young held the top spot on both the...

' by Neil Young

Neil Young

Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...

, which is in the key of D-minor, the saddest key of all. Scott was thinking about the lyrics, and at that time in our lives we were struggling very much. What Scott was writing about was a real-life situation. Also about me, the thing about the gun. 'Creep' is a very demeaning word. It was one of those instances where we looked at ourselves, looked in the mirror.

Track listing

1. "Creep" [New Radio Version] - 4:31
2. "Crackerman" - 3:12
3. "Where the River Goes" - 8:20

Charts

Chart (1993)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks	2
U.S. Billboard Modern Rock Tracks	12
Canadian RPM RPM (magazine) RPM was a Canadian music industry publication that featured song and album charts for Canada. The publication was founded by Walt Grealis in February 1964, supported through its existence by record label owner Stan Klees. RPM ceased publication in November 2000.RPM stood for "Records, Promotion,... Singles Chart Canadian Singles Chart The Canadian Singles Chart is currently compiled by the U.S.-based music sales tracking company, Nielsen SoundScan . The chart is compiled every Wednesday, and is published by Jam! Canoe on Thursdays....	45
New Zealand Singles Chart	24