I have always thought of sophistication as rather a feeble substitute for decadence.
quote by Christopher Hampton

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Substitute For Love
Written by Madonna, William Orbit, Rod McKuen, Anita Kerr and David Collins
I traded fame for love
Without a second thought
It all became a silly game
Some things cannot be bought
Got exactly what I asked for
Wanted it so badly
Running, rushing back for
more
I suffered fools
So gladly
And now I find
I've changed my mind
The face of you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
Should I wait for you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
I traveled round the world
Looking for a home
I found myself in crowded rooms
Feeling so alone
Had so many lovers
Who settled for the thrill
Of basking in my spotlight
I never felt
So happy
The face of you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
Should I wait for you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
mmmmmm
ooooooo
No famous faces, far off places
Trinkets I can buy
No handsome stranger, heady danger
Drug that I can try
No ferris wheel, no heart to steal
No laughter in the dark
No one night stand, no far off land
No fire that I can spark
mmmmm?
The face of you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
Should I wait for you
My substitute for love
My substitute for love
song performed by by Madonna

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Delusions Of Grandeur
You don't care about nothing
So you don't care about love
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better give up talking about money
Begin thinking of love
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better change for the better
It cost more than dollars and cents
Take it from me there's - got to be
An end to this decadence
This decadence
You don't care about people
So you don't care about pain
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better change for the better
Start using some common sense
Take it from me there's - got to be
An end to this decadence
For decadence - is fatal
It's the beginning of the end
In self-defense
I cannot recommend
This decadence
You don't care about real life
You're too distant and strange
If you want me to come back
You'd better change for the better
It may be rather intense
Stop this caprice, you've got to cease
This fin-de-siecle pretence
For decadence - is fatal
It's the beginning of the end
In consequence
I cannot recommend
This decadence
This decadence
This decadence
This decadence
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Effective Etiquette
Representing a decadence this is...
Represents its existence,
As it is and this is clear.
To uphold values and standards,
Many rush to come to defend...
Is hypocritical in presentation.
When a marketing of decadence,
Does not offend.
Until...
One elected,
To sit in a prestigious position...
Lies and denies a taste for lust.
With an innocence trusted,
Adored by those upper crust.
But...
That trust becomes busted.
And pretentiousness kept,
Becomes betrayed.
And those who know...
Their values and standards,
Meet an acquired effective etiquette...
Are seen to be embarrassed,
By a smearing done to their politcal correctness!
Oh...
What a feeble web they live to weave.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Decadence
You don't care about nothing
So you don't care about love
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better give up talking about money
Begin thinking of love
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better change for the better
It cost more than dollars and cents
Take it from me there's - got to be
An end to this decadence
This decadence
You don't care about people
So you don't care about pain
If you want me to come back
You'd better change
You'd better change for the better
Start using some common sense
Take it from me there's - got to be
An end to this decadence
For decadence - is fatal
It's the beginning of the end
In self-defense
I cannot recommend
This decadence
You don't care about real life
You're too distant and strange
If you want me to come back
You'd better change for the better
It may be rather intense
Stop this caprice
song performed by by Pet Shop Boys from Disco 2

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Substitute
You think we look pretty good together
You think my shoes are made of leather
But Im a substitute for another guy
I look pretty tall but my heels are high
The simple things you see are all complicated
I look pretty young, but Im just back-dated, yeah
Substitute your lies for fact
I can see right through your plastic mac
I look all white, but my dad was black
My fine looking suit is really made out of sack
I was born with a plastic spoon in my mouth
The north side of my town faced east, and the east was facing south
And now you dare to look me in the eye
Those crocodile tears are what you cry
Its a genuine problem, you wont try
To work it out at all you just pass it by, pass it by
Substitute me for him
Substitute my coke for gin
Substitute you for my mum
At least Ill get my washing done
song performed by by Who

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Morphine & Chocolate
Substitute my gloom with happiness
Substitute my sickness with health
Substitute my enemies with real good friends
Morphine & chocolate are my
Substitute, substitutes
Morphine & chocolate can bring me up
Can warm my heart whenever i want it
And every once in a while when i stop and think
Morphine & chocolate are my
Substitute, substitutes
And you can say " hey, we've really come a long way "
And you say " hey, it can only be this way "
You might be careful, it really hurts when it's real
You might be careful, it really hurts when it's real
You'll go down, down, down, down, ooh !
Set the alarm clock, baby
Don't you miss the sun ?
I'm feeling really warm hearted baby
Don't you know i'm feeling like someone
I'm fearing for my life again and i am
Fearing for my heart
Morphine & chocolate could never
Substitute my art !
And that's real love baby x3
song performed by by 4 Non Blondes

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Morphine Chocolate
Substitute my gloom with happiness
Substitute my sickness with health
Substitute my enemies with real good friends
Morphine & chocolate are my
Substitute, substitutes
Morphine & chocolate can bring me up
Can warm my heart whenever I want it
And every once in a while when I stop and think
Morphine & chocolate are my
Substitute, substitutes
And you can say hey, weve really come a long way
And you say hey, it can only be this way
You might be careful, it really hurts when its real
You might be careful, it really hurts when its real
Youll go down, down, down, down, ooh !
Set the alarm clock, baby
Dont you miss the sun ?
Im feeling really warm hearted baby
Dont you know Im feeling like someone
Im fearing for my life again and I am
Fearing for my heart
Morphine & chocolate could never
Substitute my art !
And thats real love baby x3
song performed by by 4 Non Blondes

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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The root lends lushness
Loyalty may bring success
But honesty is ultimate success.
Decoration may bring sophistication
But simplicity is ultimate sophistication.
20.02.2008
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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If You Did Not Know!
If you sit and listen,
To those deranged.
You will leave them believing...
They are innocent of their misfit ways.
And they had nothing to do with,
A way of life that for all has decayed.
With halos adorning upon their heads.
And wings attached from their backs to spread.
If you sit and listen!
If you did not know!
If you thought of them victimized...
In a world they themselves did not bestow,
Their own love to feed and grow...
A decadence!
A decadence only they nurtured.
And allowed themselves to show!
If you sit and listen to them.
And...
If you did not know!
'What is that over there? '
~Oh...
Those are the two million people incarcerated.~
'How did that happen to them? '
~Who knows?
Perhaps that is what they chose.~
A government for the people,
And by the people!
Certain people...
That is.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.
quote by Cesar Chavez

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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First Encounter - Siti Nurhaliza
Siti Nurhaliza
a simplicity with touching
sophistication
Siti Nurhaliza
a balance of village and
urban sophistication
Siti Nurhaliza
her eyes cut through one
like her songs
Siti Nurhaliza is the queen of pops in Malaysia. She has been the reigning songtress in the country for years as well as in neighbournig Indonesia. She is married and lives in Kuala Lumpur.
poem by John Tiong Chunghoo

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A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought.
quote by Warren Buffett

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Outsider
I am the one outside the group
outside the circle
the one who fell through
the holes in the net
The stranger
the outsider
I came close
and you said come closer;
and I made every effort -
eager, naïve and persistent -
but you had sophistication;
you always have sophistication;
and you played with me;
you needed bodies and responses
to fill in forms and information
and your Bureau of Statistics
and I was there - guided, directed
and you knew
all the while,
I was the stranger, the outsider
And you whispered to one another
while your smooth talk was practiced and distinct
I was the stranger, am the outsider
which you knew all the while
which I only saw late in the hour
and so I live now at the borders, at the periphery
and now when we walk past each other
we gaze at each other with caution
with careful disregard
poem by Raj Arumugam

Submitted by Dan Costinaş
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Interpretations of Life
Many are finding it easier,
To substitute any reality...
For quick trips away,
To escape from their own
Interpretations of life!
A shameless feeding of fantasy...
Has many people demanding more police,
To protect them from a way of life...
They have allowed and wished upon themselves.
They wished to see themselves better 'than'.
So throughout their history,
They took from others...
And declared them enemies.
They stripped them of their resources,
To claim stolen goods as their 'interests'.
They created their own isolation.
And in celebration...
This ignorance was praised.
Insecurity has increasingly...
Diminished them into dependency.
And a decadence lived,
Can not hide the blight or stop those frightened...
From what now all can see,
Is a quality of life purely based upon deceit.
Many are finding it easier,
To substitute any reality...
For quick trips away,
To escape from their own
Interpretations of life!
And they wish to love what they feel is right.
But how can this be done?
When all that has been happening,
Has been condoned,
By an addiction to restrict reality.
And the price paid to keep that hushed...
Is indebted to those,
Who 'allow' them to borrow funds...
To keep thoughts of greatness alive!
And how can a people thrive on the idea of greatness?
Simple.
Standards are lowered.
Mediocrity is praised.
Availability is cheapened.
And those demanding quality...
Are taught to be ignored.
With a disrespect that comes accepted.
Until it breeds an arrogance.
With a depiction of lost independence.
And a conformity controlled,
By anything that is told!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Decadence Dance
francis!
Francis! be careful!
Trying so hard to keep up with the joneses
Running a rat racing won by our noses
Always put one foot in front of the other
And dance to the beat of the dacadent drummer
Just buy a brand new pair of fred astaire shoes
Climbing to the top, never gonna stop
Its the same old song and one two three and dec-a-dance
Dance, dance
Dance, dance
Dancing to the dacadence dance, dance
Everybody decadancing
Dancing to the decadence
Dancing to the decadence dance
Its hard to stop once the music gets started
til the soles of your feet harden up like your heart did
Stepping in line with the sign of the timer
Seduced by the tune of the decadent dancer
Just buy a brand new pair of fred astaire shoes
Climbing to the top, never gonna stop
Its the same old song and one two three and dec-a-dance
Dance, dance
Dance, dance
Dancing to the dacadence dance, dance
Everybody decadancing
Dancing to the decadence
Dancing to the decadence dance
song performed by by Extreme

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sophistication
sophistication amidst the
hunger of the masses
becomes a curse to your
further progress,
soon no native likes the company
of your strictures
no river is willing to carry you to
the other end of the sea
no moon shines upon you
no sun rises on your brow
how many times shall the black bird tell you
in the plainest notes of her ordinary song
simplicity is beauty
there is no other effective tool
to be loved by your
own people
be with them in the most ordinary even of their lives
breakfast consisting of fish and rice and water
and then a very nice conversation about the recent
adventure in fishing
there is no other effective tool than being loved by ordinary people
as they are themselves, so shall you be yourself
no pretensions
no sophistication
just simplicity.
poem by Ric S. Bastasa

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The City
Written by bob welch.
Gonna stay out of new york
Theres something there that drives me crazy
Gonna stay out of new york
Theres something there that bleeds me dry
It gets so bad that I stop breathin
And then the sun dont wanna shine
Theres something wrong with new york
Its a prison without walls
No I wont go back there
I just dont like that place at all
You might call it sophistication
But I say time is runnin out
I wont go back to new york
Theres a darkness all around
No, I just cant handle it
You know that place is gettin me down
You can say its sophistication
But I say time is runnin out
song performed by by Fleetwood Mac

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Promoting Decadence As One's Defense
Is there such a thing as,
Justifiable ignorance?
Is there such a thing as,
Promoting decadence...
As one's defense.
Today those who have poise and grace,
Are as out of place...
As an alien from space.
Those who speak with confidence and truth,
Are quickly rumored to be...
Fools let loose.
Is there such a thing as,
Justifiable ignorance?
Is there such a thing as,
Promoting decadence...
As one's defense.
Listen to those on talk radio,
Saying things over the airwaves...
The FCC approves as okay.
But an exposed breast,
Unexpectedly addressed...
Upsets those to become enraged,
Although much worse than that...
Is displayed on TV 24 hours 'everyday'.
Is there such a thing as,
Justifiable ignorance?
Is there such a thing as,
Promoting decadence...
As one's defense.
Is there such a thing as,
As those who are crazed...
Being praised today?
And those desiring,
Better lives for themselves...
Being criminalized,
As if 'they' were the ones...
Who have come to terrorize our lives.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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We can believe that we know where the world should go. But unless we're in touch with our customers, our model of the world can diverge from reality. There's no substitute for innovation, of course, but innovation is no substitute for being in touch, either.
quote by Steve Ballmer

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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A feeble executive implies a feeble execution of the government.
quote by Joseph Story

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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