They never cease to amaze me, the people I am surrounded by.

Wake up 
by my good friend Simon Horowitz

"The future wasn't predicted by Nostradamus, 

George Lucas warned what would harm us,
Attack of the Clones,
All I see is blonde hair, black jackets, fake tan and iPhones,
Cities infested with human manikins,
Destined for a darker future than Anakin,

Panic spend credit on plastic to look plastic,
In search of those 3 magical words - 'You look fantastic!'
The overwhelming desire to be noticed, 
So we devour trends like a plague of locust,

The fear being that we won't fit in, 
Yet it's fitting,
We dress up to stand out but just fit in,
The tighter the clothes we try to fit in,
So make sure you stay fit,

Ingest nothing on your plate,
Remember - you have a billboard to recreate,
Food to throw up you just ate,
Teenagers losing their minds,
Trying to reach the thinnest line, 

Facebook's lowered teen's self-esteem,
To levels never before seen,
Self-taken camera-phone photo on screen,
And the must-have comment telling the world 'you look like a beauty queen!',

It's insanity,
Humanity must be here for something more worthwhile than vanity,
If free choice was a blessing from Him,
Then why does everybody dress in H&M? 

My eyes don't play tricks,
It really is 24/7 déjà vu in our matrix,
Fashion morphing us into the abyss,

Morpheus would say there must be a glitch,
Pity anybody who has bought Abercrombie + Fitch,  

Sold out clothes for sold out souls,
Looking pleased as if there is something they've actually achieved,

When all they've become is a symbol of the sheep from which their garment was weaved,
They can face the mirror but can't face reality,
Designer labels can't cover up cracks in personalities,

Of course everybody wants to look attractive,  
But we no longer even window shop - we're just caught captive,
Checking our own reflection,
Perhaps a hair out of place could lead to rejection?

Narcissism has imprisoned our vision,
Don't believe every advertisement you see on television,
Don't take everything at face value,
The lips on my face vow to place value on what really matters,
But it's so hard not to get caught up in the meaningless,
Meaning less money to invest,
Meaning more money wasted on dress,

Could flip it to a homeless guy who'd waste it on booze,   
But I'd much rather waste it on a new pair of shoes,
Around every corner we face the temptation to be vain,
So many images imprinted on our brains,

I repeat it's insane but who's to blame?
Those who devise it?
Those who supply it?
Or those who buy it?

The clothing companies dressing teenage girls like whores?
Enticing potential paedophiles to break laws,
The TV executives commissioning nonsense like Jersey Shore?
Making their audience stupider seems to be their cause, 

Or maybe the problem is pop music?
And of so much bullshit we can accuse it,
All you used to need was love,
But now kids know no better,
Singing along to repetitive repertoires,
About how they want want to be billionaires in St. Tropez with their fast cars."