Man has a dream and that's the... stars?

Carousel of Progress is one of the most famous attractions in Disney World. It's a 20-minute "ride" of pure, unadultered promethean americana and for anyone who believes in - and hopes for - the material progress of the human race it's hard to leave the show unmoved by the ideal of progress presented therein.

As a non-American children who didn't speak English as his first language, though, I didn't quite understand the full lyrics for some time and even when I got fluent in English I still misheard one crucial part of the lyrics: instead of

Man has a dream and that's the start


I heard

Man has a dream and that's the stars


In other words, I thought old Walt was proclaiming his support for the exploration of the final frontier. And when got on that stage, that would be "a dream come true, for you and me". That always struck me as very romantic: this idea that after shaping our world to support our well-being - the obvious sequence to the periods presented on the attraction -, we would proceed to expand through the rest of the galaxy enjoying this wealth for the rest of eternity.

This is not to say that the correct versions of the lyrics has a worse message: it's an ode to day-to-day inventions, which, one step at a time, will also lead us toward the stars. But I feel that as a hymn to progress, the idea of a final goal so directly put was a more powerful message.

So, please don't mind me when I misquote it :)

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