I wonder, I wonder – a radio show inspired by the British philosopher Alan Watts​ and the segment of his lecture ‘Inception’.

The Whole Nine Yards Ep 155 11.2.24 with Roy Stannard​ on Mid Sussex Radio​ 103.8FM

You’d forget you were dreaming..

Is there an internal irony to a Cruise company using a talk that was about humanity enjoying what it already has?
Alan Watts contention was:
Point One: Your life is the only life you will ever live and therefore the best possible life, as long as you appreciate it for the incredible experience it is.
Point Two: All the things you dream for would only bring short-term happiness, not a lifetime of happiness.

The irony consists of hijacking a profound piece of philosophy to sell cruises.

The same Alan Watts talk was used by Microsoft for the ad for the Xbox Series X, but they preserved the ending – about ending up right where you are now.
It would be more appropriate to use the line about “the dream of living the life you are living today” and zoomed in on the face of someone staring into the sunset from the prow of the ship.

Iused to be an advertising copywriter, so this is home territory. It stirred me sufficiently to compile a show on the theme of dreaming.

Hour One

Supertramp – Dreamer (Crime Of The Century 1974)

Art of Noise – Dream in Colour (The Seduction of Claude Debussy 1999)

Pink – A Million Years (The Greatest Showman – Reimagined 2019)

Duffy – Distant Dreamer (Rockferry 2008)

Teenage Fanclub – Sparky’s Dream (Grand Prix 1995)

Amy MacDonald – Dream On (Under Stars 2016)

Blue Sky Riders – Dreams (Finally Home 2013)

Atomised – Let the Sun (Dreamlands 2008)

The Smiths – Last Night I dreamed that somebody loved me (Strangeways,Here We Come 19880

Glasvegas – Dream Dream Dreaming (Euphoric Heartbreak 2011)

The Xcerts – Daydream (Hold Onto Your Heart 2018)

Top – Life’s Only Dreaming (Emotion Lotion 1991)

TV21 – End of a Dream (A Thin Red Line 1981)

Hour Two

New Order – Dreams Never End (Movement 1981)

Marina – The State of Dreaming (Electra Heart 2012)

Newton Faulkner – Dream Catch Me (Hand Built By Robots 2007)

Adele – Daydreamer (19 2008)

Aretha Franklin – I Dreamed a Dream (Whatcha See is What You Get 1991)

Madeleine Bell – Mr Dream Merchant (Bell’s a Poppin’ 1967)

Lo Moon – Dream Never Dies (A Modern Life 2021)

Crowded House – Don’t Dream It’s Over (Crowded House 1986)

Dermot Kennedy – Dreamer (Sonder 2022)

Angus & Julia Stone – Santa Monica Dream (Down the Way 2010)

Diana Krall – California Dreamin’ (Wallflower 2014)

Phillip Goodhand-Tait – Just a Dream (Oceans Away 1976)

The Zombies – Hung Up on a Dream (Odessey and Oracle 1968)

Tim Hardin – How Can We Hang onto a  Dream (Tim Hardin 1 1966)

The Monkees – Daydream Believer (The Birds, The Bees and the Monkees 1968) (That was then, this is Now 1986)