Lyrics:

(Berry/Buck/Mills/Stipe)



'What's the frequency, Kenneth?' is your Benzedrine, uh-huh

I was brain-dead, locked out, numb, not up to speed

I thought I'd pegged you an idiot's dream

Tunnel vision from the outsider's screen

I never understood the frequency, uh-huh

You wore our expectations like an armored suit, uh-huh



I'd studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines

Richard said, 'Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy'

A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth

You said that irony was the shackles of youth

You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh

I never understood the frequency, uh-huh



'What's the frequency, Kenneth?' is your Benzedrine, uh-huh

Butterfly decal, rearview mirror, dogging the scene

You smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth

You said that irony was the shackles of youth

You wore a shirt of violent green, uh-huh

I never understood the frequency, uh-huh

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 of violent green, uh-huh

I couldn't understand

I never understood don't fuck with me, uh-huh