Gentleman or Pauper

In this world we live in,
driven by image, and money,
where even culture becomes status,
and the sex symbol is the one
who puts out and not the one who's prettiest...
Where's the room for the gentleperson?

Where are the morals now? We're still
raised to follow them--respect your elders,
treat your fellow man and woman nicely,
take care of yourself and your family,
so in the end where does it go?
Is the gentleman worthy anymore?

Television is the worst--raised with
channels like MTV where we're bombarded
with Cribs, and Made, and videos, where
the most popular genre of the day can
only talk about poppin' gats, or pimpin' hos.
Is the gentleman a fairy tale?

Nice is what everyone wants inside, but
what everyone turns down on the dance floor,
what everyone turns away from in the bedroom,
it's enough to make honest women think twice,
and honest men study under bigots and chauvenists.
it's enough to drive kids who don't cut it--to death.

I'm sick of a world where actresses are good because
they're "hot", or men are desired because they're rich.
Because that world tells girls they need to be "this skinny",
or "this sexy", or "this profession" to get a man they find dreamy.
Because that world tells bookworms "get a sixpack", "join a sports team",
"take that cool drug", because if you can't hang with the cool kids...

This world isn't caste free anymore, and that's the truth.
The beautiful are first, followed by the rich, followed
by the powerful, followed by the intelligent, and somewhere,
somehow, a gentleman or woman survives on meager earnings,
dreaming of bigger things because loneliness forces them to.
The gentleperson is the pauper, and this world is Dickensian.

But even that's not enough for me anymore. I can't just
live with great expectations, and I can't wait around
for your Oliver twist...I've had to live out A Christmas
Carol, and I can tell you Scrooge never wakes up anything
more than a grinch. I wait for the day when I can have my
chance, to even things up a little and bring back the gentleman.