Authors, if you are a member of the Goodreads Author Program, you can edit information about your own books. Find out how in this guide. We just carry on living our lives oblivious to the many problems around us - hence the "half-asleep."
Crew watches me closely as I raise my glass and take a sip. A high-pitched, whiny voice interrupts our silent staring contest.

My stomach dips like the floor fell out beneath me as soon as I hear the deep, confident voice. I focus on everything tangible: the hard surface my arm is resting on, the pinch of my heels, the splash and smell of alcohol being poured. Without looking over, I instantly know who is standing beside me. Everyone in here already knows who he is. But even if Crew had a different last name and a less robust bank account, I still think I would be staring. Money buys power, and power always has a price. The fear of those who already possess both? Losing it. The best way to ensure keeping it? Alliances. And elites don’t marry down—they marry equal.Canadian single certifications – The National – Fake Empire". Music Canada . Retrieved March 22, 2023.

Crew’s fiancée.” The two words roll off my tongue like I’ve said them before, even though I haven’t. They still sound strange. Did you see Crew Kensington is here?” a third voice asks. My hand stills halfway across my lower lip. I say nothing. If he’s trying to impress me, money is the wrong way to do it. I don’t know what he’s trying to do. He approached me, all but confirming the outcome of our fathers’ conversation last week.

Matt Berninger: Neither were every really songs about war. “Fake Empire” has political allusions but it’s also just a song about going out and forgetting your troubles. If anything, its more about trying to avoid thinking about the state of the world. Truly a beautiful song. It's clearly a relationship song--the entire album is an exploration of an individual's experiences reliving a bittersweet relationship, and this one starts it out... If you’d ever done more than compliment me on my dress in the past decade, you’d know the answer to that.”