Monster

R.E.M Monster Lyrics
1.What's The Frequency, Kenneth?

'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


2.Crush With Eyeliner

I know you
I know you've seen her
She's a sad tomato
She's three miles of bad road
Walking down the street
Will I never meet her?
She's a real woman-child
Oh my kiss breath turpentine

I am smitten
I'm the real thing (I'm the real thing)
Have you seen her come around?
My crush with eyeliner

I'm imbibed
I'm infatuated
It's all too much passion
She's all that I can take
What position should I wear?
Cop an attitude? (fake her)
How can I convince her? (fake her)
That I'm invented too, yeah

I am smitten
I'm the real thing (I'm the real thing)
We all invent ourselves
And you know me

Yeah, she's a sad tomato
She's three miles of bad road
She's her own invention (she's her own invention)
That gets me in the throat
What can I make myself be?
Life is strange, yeah (life is strange)
What can I make myself be (fake her)
To make her mine?

I am smitten
I'll do anything (I'll do anything)
A kiss breath turpentine
My crush with eyeliner

I am smitten
You know me (yeah, you know me)
I could be your Frankenstein
My crush with eyeliner

I am smitten
I'm the real thing (I'm the real thing)
Won't you be my valentine?
My crush with eyeliner


3.King Of Comedy

Make your money with a suit and tie
Make your money with true denial
Make your money expert advice
If you can wing it
Make your money with a power ply
Make your money with a buyout bribe
Make it lie as long as you mean it

I'm not king of comedy
Grease the pig, give a squeeze (squeeze me)

Make your money with exploitation
Make it holy illumination
Say a prayer at every station
Don't forget to ask for mercy
Make your money with a pretty face
Make it easy with product placement
Make it charged with controversy
I'm straight, I'm queer, I'm bi

I'm not king of comedy
I'm not your magazine
I'm not your television

Make your money, make it rich
Make it young and make it quick
Make your money on the jukebox, baby
Let's pick up sticks
Make your enemies make your moves
Make your critics stumble through
Make it smart and make it schmooze
Make it look easy

I'm not king of comedy
I'm not your magazine
I'm not your television
I'm not your movie screen
I'm not commodity (all together now)
I'm not commodity...


4.I Don't Sleep, I Dream

I'm looking for an interruption
Do you believe?
You looking, did my dreams
Be prepared for anything
You come into my little scene
Hooray, hooray, hip hip, hooray
There's one thing I can guarantee
You won't have to dig, dig too deep

Said leave me to lay, but touch me deep
I don't sleep, I dream
I'll settle for a cup of coffee
But you know what I really need

Are you looking to drive my dreams?
You here to route my schemes?
You come, deliver my demons
Hooray, hooray, hip hip, hooray
Are you coming to ease my headache?
Do you give good head?
Am I good in bed?

I don't know, I guess so
I don't sleep, I dream
I'll settle for a cup of coffee
But you know what I really need

I'm looking for an interruption
Can you believe?
Some medicine for my headache
Hooray, hooray, hip hip, hooray
I'm pitching for a new direction
Pinch me when I wake
Don't tell me my dreams are fake
You leave me to lay, you touch me deep
I don't sleep, I dream
I'll settle for a cup of coffee
But you know what I really need
Leave me to lay, but touch me deep
I don't sleep, I dream
I'll settle for a cup of coffee
But you know what I really need


5.Star 69

You don't have to take the bar exam to see
What you did is Ignoramous 103

Where have I got to hang my hat
You don't have line to me
All this seems to be a plan
I was there to tell you
Extortion and arson, petty larceny

I know you called
I know you called
I know you called

I know you called
I know you called
I know you hung up my line
Star 69

I know all about the warehouse fire
I know squirrelies didn't chew the wire

Three people have my number
The other two were with me
I don't like to tell-tell
But I'm not your patsy
This time you have gone too far with me

I know you called
I know you called
I know you called

I know you called
I know you called
I know you hung up my line
Star 69

Why'd you put your quarter down on me?
This reads like some dork inside edition Hard Copy
I can't be your character witness, I can't be your alibi
Doorbell rings it's the FBI, we learned Spy vs. Spy
You, my friend, are guilty as can be

I know you called
I know you called
I know you called

I know you called
I know you called
I know you hung up my line

I know you called
I know you called
I know you called

I know you called
I know you called
I can't be your alibi
Star 69


6.Strange Currencies

I don't know why you're mean to me
When I call on the telephone
And I don't know what you mean to me
But I want to turn you on, turn you up
Figure you out, want to take you on

These words, 'You will be mine'
These words, 'You will be mine, all the time'

The Fool might be my middle name
But I'd be foolish not to say
Going to make whatever it takes
Ring you up, call you down, sign your name, secret love
Couldn't I take you in and make you mine?

These words, 'You will be mine'
These words, 'You will be mine, all the time', oh

I tripped and fell, did I fall?
What I want you to feel
I want to feel it now

You know with love comes strange currencies
And here is my appeal
I need a chance, a second chance
A third chance, a fourth chance
A word, a signal, a nod, a little breath
Just to fool myself
Catch myself, to make it real, real

These words, 'You will be mine'
These words, 'You will be mine, all the time', oh

These words, 'You will be mine'
These words haunt me, hunt me down
Catch in my throat, make me pray
Say love's combined, oh


7.Tongue

Call my name, here I come
Don't take to nothing
Watch me run
You call, I am ashamed
To say it

Ugly girls know their fate
Anybody can get laid
You want a room with a fire escape
I want to tell you how much I hate this

Don't leave that stuff all over me
It pains me
Please, just leave it

I should toss that vanity, lesson's burned
Toss that makeup, painted pearls
Box those poems, chocolate cake
Scratch that name on the record player

Please, just leave me be

Don't lay that stuff all over me
It crawls all over
All over me, uh

Call my name, here I come
Your last ditch lay
Will I never learn?

Caramel turn on a dusty apology

It crawls all over me
Your tongue all over me

It pains me
Please, just leave it


8.Bang And Blame

If you could see yourself now, baby
It's not my fault
You used to be so in control
You're going to roll right over this one
Just roll me over, let me go
You're laying blame
Take this as no, no, no, no, no

You bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
Blame, blame, blame
You bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
It's not my thing, so let it go

If you could see yourself now, baby
The tables are turned
The whole world hinges on your swings
Your secret life of indiscreet discretions
I turn the screw, leave the screen
Don't point your finger
You know that's not my thing

You came to bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
Blame, blame, blame
Bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
It's not my thing, so let it go now

You can cut a little worry
I know it all too well
I've got your number
So does every kiss-and-tell
Who dares to cross your threshhold
Happens on your way
Stop laying blame
You know that's not my thing
You know that's not my thing

You came to bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
Blame, blame, blame
You bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
It's not my thing, so let it go
You bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
Blame, blame, blame
You bang, bang, bang, bang and bang
It's not my thing, so let it go

You kiss on me, tug on me
Rub on me, jump on me
Bang on me, beat on me
Hit on me, let go on me
You let go on me


9.I Took Your Name

I wore the clothes you wanted
I took your name
If there is some confusion
On who's to blame
I signed your living will
I smiled your face
I'm ready to close the book on
NASA and outer space

If there is some confusion
On who's to blame
On who's to blame

I sequenced your arrival
I sealed your fate
I pushed the button
And erased your master tape
I wrote the sales pitch
I threw the grey switch
I dragged your big-assed
Dirty robbed car out of that ditch

If there is some confusion
On who's to blame
On who's to blame

I crossed your great divide
I stirred your ocean's tide
I called your bluff until
I blew your circuits wide
I'll be your albatross
Devil dog, Jesus Lord
I don't wanna be Iggy Pop
But if that's what it takes

If there is some confusion
If there is some confusion
If there is some confusion
On who's to blame
(If there is some confusion)
On who's to blame
(If there is some confusion)
On who's to blame
(If there is some confusion)
(If there is some confusion)


10.Let Me In

Yeah, all those stars drip down like butter
In promises, a sea
We hold out our pans
Lift our hands to catch them
We eat them up, drink them up
Up, up, up

Hey, let me in
Hey, let me in

I only wish that I could hear you whisper down
Mr. fisherman, to a less peculiar ground
He gathered up his loved ones
And he brought them all around
To say goodbye, nice try

Hey, let me in, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in, let me in

I had a mind to try to stop you, let me in, let me in
I've got tar on my feet and I can't see
All the birds look down and laugh at me
Clumsy, crawling out of my skin

Hey, let me in, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in
Hey, let me in, yeah, yeah, yeah
Hey, let me in


11.Circus Envy

Here comes that awful feeling again
Welcome the ugly animal
I hold my breath to what you sing
My pyro b-ba-ba ball and chain
I'm not afraid, I messed it, messed it
Messed it, messed it up

I've got my telescope hid in the haystack
I'm getting tired of your dodgeball circus act
Put pepper in my coffee
I forgot to bark on command

Here comes that awful feeling again
Make way for monster jealousy
The strong man kicked sand into my breakfast cereal bowl
I'd spelled your name with Oatios
He messed it, messed it
Messed it, messed it up

I've got my telescope hid in the haystack
I am tired of your dodgeball circus act
Put pepper in my coffee
I forgot to bark on command

You're mean, mean, mean
You tease, tease, tease me

If I were you I'd really run from me
I'd really really wish that I were you
When I get loose I'll climb a tree
And drop a load on your head
This monster in me makes me retch
You messed it, messed it up

I've got my telescope hid in the haystack
I am jealous of your dodgeball circus act
Put pepper in my coffee
I forgot to bark
Put pepper in my coffee
I forgot to bark on command

You're mean, mean, mean
You tease, tease, tease me

Do you smell jealousy?
Do you smell jealousy?
Jealousy
Jealousy


12.You

Let the sun beat through the clouds
Let me kiss you on the mouth
All my childhood toys with chew marks in from a smile
Let me hold your syrup close to mine
Let me watch you, Hollywood and Vine
And I want you like the movie, touch me now
I love you crazy, just keep on
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you

Did I dream you were a tourist
In the Arizona sun?
I can see you there with lunar moths
And watermelon gum
I woke up in the sleeping bag
With nowhere else to run
You're standing in the bathroom
Telling me it's all in fun
I love you crazy, just keep on
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you

I can whisper in your ear
I can write a calendar year
I can wing around your Saturn smile, shut out the moon
I walked the tension wire line
And I learned to disrespect the signs
And I want you like a Pisces rising, even though
I love you crazy, just keep on
I love you madly, just keep watch
You wipe my lips
You turn me on
My attentions are turned to you