What's the Frequency Kenneth? A liner note from the Special Edition of In Time written by Peter Buck: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

A liner note from the Special Edition of In Time written by Peter Buck: What's the Frequency, Kenneth?

What's the Frequency, Kenneth?, track one off Monster

"As for those who might don't know (as Mike would say) the title of this song is not original to us. Apparently in the eighties, Dan Rather, network news honcho, was assaulted by a gentlema, who between beatings, shouted "What the frequency Kenneth?" at him. Nobody ever fiugured out what that whole scene was about.

Now let me make this completely clear: I like Dan Rather. He's a fine newsman, an interesting person to talk to, and quite a bit nuttier than most of those media types (I consider that a good thing). That said, nothing in my rich and varied life prepared me for the experience of performing behind him as he "danced" and "sang" What's the Frenquency, Kenneth?"

-

Wiser men than myself have reasoned that "Kenneth" might be Ken Schafer, an electronics expert with whom Rather had worked in connection with Soviet TV broadcasts.

Since the beating of Dan Rather, "What's the frequency?" and calling a person who is clueless a "kenneth" became a youth culture catch-phrase. This was probably why lyric writer Michael Stipe chose to use it, rather than having a particular interest in Dan Rather.. And in a truly orginal thought of my own, this idea is possibly Easter Egged in the liner notes of the Monster album with the yello cartoon with the fellow in a "I'm with stupid" t shirt.

I actually think What's the Frequency is one of the great R.E.M Lyrics - "turning away in digust is not the same as apathy" is brilliant commentary, even if it is regurgitated from a film called Slacker. And so here it is.


"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

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