What's the Frequency, Kenneth? Lyrics
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
You wore our expectations like an armored suit
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
I never understood the frequency
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
I never understood the frequency
You wore our expectations like an armored suit
I couldn't understand
You said that irony was the shackles of youth
I couldn't understand
You wore a shirt of violent green
I couldn't understand
I never understood, don't fuck with me
"What's the frequency, Kenneth?" is your Benzedrine
(The attack on Dan Rather has already been mentioned, this line is a clear reference to that event)
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
("I wrote that protagonist as a guy who's desperately trying to understand what motivates the younger generation, who has gone to great lengths to try and figure them out, and at the end of the song it's completely fucking bogus. He got nowhere." - Michael Stipe.)
You wore our expectations like an armored suit
(This refers to the generational gap, specifically to the apathetic attitude of slacker youth toward the lofty expectations of their parents.)
I'd studied your cartoons, radio, music, TV, movies, magazines
(Goes back to the middle aged man struggling to understand youth culture.)
Richard said, "Withdrawal in disgust is not the same as apathy"
(The Richard mentioned is Richard Linklater, who directed "Slackers" in which that line is featured.)
A smile like the cartoon, tooth for a tooth You said that irony was the shackles of youth
(Two of the best lines in the song. He compares the nonchalant faces of young responders with the cartoons in what can only be an over-analysis. Tied together, the lines imply that the youth get a bit of a kick out of reminding the middle-aged that their generation has lost its sense of irony. There was one more thing about the shackles of youth line, but I can't remember right now.)
You wore a shirt of violent green I never understood the frequency
(The admission of frustration with something as simple as the new generation's attire going over his head. It's been debated whether 'violet green' refers to the band of the same name, the inspiration for the band's name, or an actual color. I like it intentionally ambiguous and I get a kick out of people trying to figure it out just like the poor sap the song is describing.)
Butterfly decal, rear-view mirror, dogging the scene
(Don't know for sure about this one, but in the video for Strange Currencies, a butterfly decal can be seen on the window of the car Stipe is riding in as well as a couple of shots focusing on the rear-view mirror. As a side note, a photograph is on the dashboard...probably taken years ago. wink wink)
@YtheLASTband I didn’t know the background to this song, particularly Dan Rather (?!), so I thank you. But, despite him fooling dooped and like a fool, I love the way Stipe closes the song “I never understood, don’t fukc with me! uh huh.” Classic!!
@YtheLASTband I didn’t know the background to this song, particularly Dan Rather (?!), so I thank you. But, despite him fooling dooped and like a fool, I love the way Stipe closes the song “I never understood, don’t fukc with me! uh huh.” Classic!!
This is according to AskYahoo:
News anchor Dan Rather was mugged in 1986 by a madman as he walked down the street in Manhattan. His assailant repeated "Kenneth, what's the frequency"
Michael Stipe wrote this song in 1994 - the identity of the assailant was revealed in 1997 as William Tager.
Tager had killed an NBC stagehand earlier and was serving time for that crime. He said that the newsmedia beamed signals into his head and believed he could block them if he found the correct frequency.
Hence: "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" Rather even joined R.E.M. on The Late Show when they were the musical guest.
@jcreswell The big mystery is, who TF is Kenneth? <g>
@jcreswell The big mystery is, who TF is Kenneth? <g>
I get the impression that the POV is that of a baby boomer, baffled by the wacky "Generation X." The members of R.E.M. were born in the years from 1956-60 (Stipe, b. 1960, is the youngest) which puts them on the generational border. People born around this time may identify more with either generation (as with those born in the late 1970s, who could be considered Gen X or Millennials), depending on stuff like who they hang out with, what music/TV/movies/etc. they like, etc. (Kurt...
I get the impression that the POV is that of a baby boomer, baffled by the wacky "Generation X." The members of R.E.M. were born in the years from 1956-60 (Stipe, b. 1960, is the youngest) which puts them on the generational border. People born around this time may identify more with either generation (as with those born in the late 1970s, who could be considered Gen X or Millennials), depending on stuff like who they hang out with, what music/TV/movies/etc. they like, etc. (Kurt Cobain, born in 1967, was the stereotypical GenXer.)
"Irony is the shackles of youth" seems a weird thing for a GenX character to say (it's not clever or amusing enough to count as ironic itself, though it might be rendered in the presence of the noticeably absent context, without which it is rather content-free), since it does seem to be an anti-irony statement (if free of any actual specific meaning): ironic humour, after all, has always been a staple of this age group. (Think Jon Stewart — the SarcasMeister. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are also GenX.)
@jcreswell The big mystery is, who TF is Kenneth? <g>
@jcreswell The big mystery is, who TF is Kenneth? <g>
I get the impression that the POV is that of a baby boomer, baffled by the wacky "Generation X." The members of R.E.M. were born in the years from 1956-60 (Stipe, b. 1960, is the youngest) which puts them on the generational border. People born around this time may identify more with either generation (as with those born in the late 1970s, who could be considered Gen X or Millennials), depending on stuff like who they hang out with, what music/TV/movies/etc. they like, etc. (Kurt...
I get the impression that the POV is that of a baby boomer, baffled by the wacky "Generation X." The members of R.E.M. were born in the years from 1956-60 (Stipe, b. 1960, is the youngest) which puts them on the generational border. People born around this time may identify more with either generation (as with those born in the late 1970s, who could be considered Gen X or Millennials), depending on stuff like who they hang out with, what music/TV/movies/etc. they like, etc. (Kurt Cobain, born in 1967, was the stereotypical GenXer.)
"Irony is the shackles of youth" seems a weird thing for a GenX character to say (it's not clever or amusing enough to count as ironic itself, though it might be rendered in the presence of the noticeably absent context, without which it is rather content-free), since it does seem to be an anti-irony statement (if free of any actual specific meaning): ironic humour, after all, has always been a staple of this age group. (Think Jon Stewart — the SarcasMeister. South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are also GenX.)
"Irony is the shackles of youth" constitutes an answer and clue for a cryptic crossword. Shackles are irons, add the abbreviation y for youth, thus IRON+Y = IRONY.
Violent Green was a band from Seattle, circa 1993, when Kurt Cobain and Stipe were friends. Who's guitar is Peter playing in the video? "You"=Cobain,"I"=Stipe. Stipe is older, not quite a celeb, and surprised that Cobain is so aware of pop-culture, and his place in it. "You" love the slang, dog the scene(Courtney said they talked music mostly), struggle with fame -"You wore our expectations like an armored suit". "I" studied your Slacker/grunge culture, and just don't get it. R.E.M. chose outdated slang, WtFK, to obscure the subject, and a grungey guitar sound, as parody. That's my take - please support/refute!
if i had a friend called Kenneth. they would hate me. Because i'd be forever asking what the frequency is.
I'm going to refute Gleemer, though I do recall Violent Green in Seattle.
Ok, Richard Linklater's slacker was a major influence on this song. Hence 'Richard said "withdrawl in disgust is not the same as apathy"' comes from Slacker.
But "Lady Slings the Blues" by Spider Robinson. The character in 'Lady' wears a shirt of violent green.
As for "What's the Frequency", that is definitively the Dan Rather attacker and the saying has become mainstream.
So I think this is an ode to Spider Robinson's work and it uses Slacker and the Rather attack to denote the delusional world Robinson wrote of and how it made Stipe feel (the reading on the fiction).
@marcevan So another thing I have been wondering about: what colour, exactly, is "violent green?" (It strikes me as the sort of bizarro superspecific colour name that might be found in a clothing catalogue — though perhaps not of the L.L. Bean or Victoria's Secret varieties.)
@marcevan So another thing I have been wondering about: what colour, exactly, is "violent green?" (It strikes me as the sort of bizarro superspecific colour name that might be found in a clothing catalogue — though perhaps not of the L.L. Bean or Victoria's Secret varieties.)
It's about a disconnect from reality. It could be in a general sense but in this case it is about the disconnect of the media from real people.
Besides checking out Richard Lankletter's "Slacker", see also this website to get the story on the Kenneth deal: http://www.thepetdetective.com/kenneth.htm It's excellent and a quick read. Funny and explains a little of this song.
That link is dead now.
That link is dead now.
@katalepsy Hardly surprising in light of how old it is. (Damn, and it's not even nearly as old as me. I-feel-so-old!)
@katalepsy Hardly surprising in light of how old it is. (Damn, and it's not even nearly as old as me. I-feel-so-old!)
Fantastic song - it is so under-rated
How is it under-rated? It was the first ever song to DEBUT as #1 on the billboard of rock. It's also REM's most played song. lol. If anything, it's OVERrated.
How is it under-rated? It was the first ever song to DEBUT as #1 on the billboard of rock. It's also REM's most played song. lol. If anything, it's OVERrated.
This link doesn't work. thepetdetective.com sells building plans. Where else could if find it?