What's the Frequency, Kenneth? - R.E.M.

["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, rear-view 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