Music / NewsMusic / NewsPrithee! Bardcore is the medieval music trend taking over YouTubeFeaturing lute renditions of Lady Gaga’s ‘Bad Romance’ and Radiohead’s ‘Creep’ShareLink copied ✔️June 23, 2020June 23, 2020TextGünseli Yalcinkaya Grab yer lute because thine best bangers on thee internet are getting a medieval makeover! In a strange turn of events, people have started uploading medieval covers of modern classics (think: Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance” and Radiohead’s “Creep”) onto YouTube – and they’re getting millions of hits. Called Bardcore (from the Celtic word “bard” meaning ‘poet’ or ‘storyteller’), the trend sees creators rework songs using lutes, fiddles, and harps, as well as re-writing lyrics in olde worlde style. While medieval covers of popular songs can be found in the depths of YouTube, the Bardcore trend appears to have blown up in the past month. In the last week, approximately 100 medieval covers of modern pop songs have appeared on the site. There’s even a Bardcore sub-reddit with over 600 members. Among them is YouTube user Cornelius Link’s lute rendition of Foster the People’s “Pumped Up Kicks”, which has already racked up over 3.7 million views. Most notably, the chorus lyrics had been changed from “All the other kids with the pumped up kicks” to “All ye bully-rooks with your buskin boots”. Another user, Hildegard von Blingin’, made a cover of Lady Gaga’s “Bad Romance”, which has nearly four million views. The cover reimagines the instrumentals of the track with a Celtic harp, recorders, and whistles, and tweaks the lyrics to: “I want thy love and all thy lover’s revenge. Thee and me could write a bad romance”. Hildegard’s medievil cover of Radiohead’s “Creep”, which is complete with updated lyrics like, “Thou art like an angel / Thy skin makes me cry”, has three million views. There’s also medieval bops of Sia’s “Chandelier”, Linkin Park’s “Numb”, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know”, and even the “Mii channel theme”. Check them out below. Escape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MORE6 times Lil Uzi Vert pushed rap forwardLil Uzi Vert: ‘Everything’s too goth, we need more steampunk’Gucci AW26: Everything you missed at Demna’s blockbuster runway debut5 of the best Oklou collabs, ranked‘Alt girls get their flowers’: Oklou and PinkPantheress go head-to-headWatch: fakemink on lust, obsessive fans and his new album, Terrifiedfakemink: ‘I’m the Eminem of the UK underground’Pokémon, pigeons and a car crash: Tracing fakemink’s digital footprint GucciEsDeeKid, Fakemink and more shut down Gucci’s AW26 afterparty5 acts to know from Manchester’s musical undergroundThe 7 most bleak, hopeless and depressing Mitski songs – ranked!February 2026 playlist: All the music we loved from the last monthEscape the algorithm! Get The DropEmail address SIGN UP Get must-see stories direct to your inbox every weekday. Privacy policy Thank you. You have been subscribed Privacy policy