Released: October 19, 2018
Songwriter: Bill Berry Peter Buck Mike Mills (R.E.M.) Michael Stipe
[Verse 1]
What!
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, ah-ha
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I'd pegged you idiot's dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen
[Chorus]
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
[Verse 2]
I'd studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines
Richard said, "Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy"
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
A-ha
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
What!
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
Butterfly decal, rear-view mirror, dogging the scene
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
Aha
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
Aha
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
You said that irony was the shackles of youth, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
You wore a shirt violent green, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
I never understood, don't fuck with me, uh-huh
What!
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, ah-ha
I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed
I thought I'd pegged you idiot's dream
Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen
[Chorus]
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
[Verse 2]
I'd studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines
Richard said, "Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy"
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
A-ha
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 3]
What!
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine, uh-huh
Butterfly decal, rear-view mirror, dogging the scene
You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
[Chorus]
You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh
Aha
I never understood the frequency, uh-huh
Aha
You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
You said that irony was the shackles of youth, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
You wore a shirt violent green, uh-huh
I couldn't understand
I never understood, don't fuck with me, uh-huh
R.E.M. at the BBC
- E-Bow The Letter - Live From St. James’s Church, London / 2004
- Munich - Live From BBC Radio 1 Live Lounge / 2008
- World Leader Pretend - Live From Into the Night on BBC Radio
- Fretless - Live From Into the Night on BBC Radio
- What’s the Frequency, Kenneth - Live from the National Bowl, Milton, Keyes / 1995
- Crush with Eyeliner - Live from the National Bowl, Milton, Keyes / 1995
- Turn You Inside-Out - Live from the National Bowl, Milton, Keyes / 1995
- I Took Your Name - Live from the National Bowl, Milton, Keyes / 1995
- Revolution - Live from The National Bowl, Milton Keynes / 1995
- R.E.M. at the BBC (2018)
- Losing My Religion
- It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)
- Man on the Moon
- Everybody Hurts
- Orange Crush
- The One I Love
- Nightswimming
- The Sidewinder Sleeps Tonite
- Shiny Happy People
- What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?
- Drive
- Imitation of Life
- Stand
- Find the River
- Radio Free Europe
- (Don’t Go Back to) Rockville
- E-Bow the Letter
- Country Feedback
- The Great Beyond
- Let Me In
- Fall on Me
- Try Not to Breathe
- So. Central Rain (I’m Sorry)
- Ignoreland