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. Expand your creative community and connect with 15,000 creatives from around the world.READ MOREWhy listening parties are everywhere right nowA night out with Feng, the ‘positive punk’ of UK UgDoppel-gäng gäng gäng: 7 times artists used body doublesWesley Joseph is the Marty Supreme of R&B (only nicer) How Turnstile are reinventing hardcore for the internet ageWill these be the biggest musical moments of 2026?Rising singer Liim is the crooning voice of New York CityFrench producer Malibu is an ambient antidote for the chronically online10 musicians to watch in 202610 great albums you may have missed in the last three monthsZukovstheworld on the UK Ug scene: ‘It’s modern pop music’The only tracks you need to hear from December 2025