Simon and Garfunkel's song "The sound of silence" makes a beautiful comparison to our ever eroding culture. The song depicts a dream in which a man watches ten thousand people worship "the neon god they made", referencing our societies obsession with money and fame as well as the corruption of values. The song describes the power we give to the media, and the the silent power the media has over us, "people talking without speaking, people hearing without listening". The rest is pretty self explanatory.

I often wonder how much I make a religion out of consumerism without even realizing it. How much I am actually saying, and who I am supporting without ever opening my mouth. Sadly, it is not always enough even when I do realize- 

" And no one dared disturb the sound of silence"

Hello darkness, my old friend
I've come to talk with you again
Because a vision softly creeping
Left its seeds while I was sleeping
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone
Beneath the halo of a street lamp
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more
People talking without speaking
People hearing without listening
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one deared
Disturb the sound of silence

"Fools," said I, "you do not know
Silence like a cancer grows
Hear my words that I might teach you
Take my arms that I might reach you"
But my words like silent raindrops fell
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed 
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the signs said the words of the prophets
Are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls
And whispered in the sounds of silence