"The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" is a popular song composed by Mitch Leigh, with lyrics written by Joe Darion. It is the best known tune from the 1965 Broadway musical Man of La Mancha and is also featured in the 1972 film of the same name starring Peter O'Toole.
According to composer Mitch Lee in Soul Music - The Impossible Dream, BBC Radio 4, 2011, the original lyricist was WH Auden. "But there were disagreements with Wasserman, the book's writer, on how to adapt it. So he left."
The complete song is first sung by Don Quixote as he stands vigil over his armor, in response to Aldonza (Dulcinea)'s question about what he means by "following the quest". It is reprised partially three more times – the last by prisoners in a dungeon as Miguel de Cervantes and his manservant mount the drawbridge-like prison staircase to face trial by the Spanish Inquisition.
A version recorded by Jack Jones peaked at No. 35 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and reached No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart.
Leigh received the Contemporary Classics Award from the Songwriter's Hall of Fame for the song. [1]
"The Impossible Dream (The Quest)" | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Single by Jack Jones | ||||
from the album The Impossible Dream | ||||
B-side | "Strangers in the Night" | |||
Released | April 1966 | |||
Recorded | April 4, 1966 | |||
Studio | Columbia 30th Street Studio, New York City | |||
Genre | Traditional pop | |||
Length | 2:17 | |||
Label | Kapp | |||
Songwriter(s) | Joe Darion, Mitch Leigh | |||
Producer(s) | Pete King | |||
Jack Jones singles chronology | ||||
|
During Robert F. Kennedy's long shot campaign for the presidency in 1968, Senator George McGovern introduced him before a South Dakota stump speech by quoting from "The Impossible Dream". Afterwards Kennedy questioned McGovern whether he really thought it was impossible. McGovern replied, "No, I don't think it's impossible. I just... wanted the audience to understand it's worth making the effort, whether you win or lose." Kennedy replied, "Well, that's what I think." [7] It was actually Robert Kennedy's favorite song. After Kennedy's death, McGovern inherited many of that campaign's delegates in the 1968 Democratic National Convention; [8] Peter, Paul and Mary performed the song live to welcome McGovern as he arrived for the event.
One of Kennedy's close friends, Andy Williams, was one of many vocal artists of the Sixties that recorded the song. [7] The song was also a favorite of younger brother Ted Kennedy and was performed by Brian Stokes Mitchell at his memorial service in 2009. [9]
The song was a favorite of Philippine hero Evelio Javier, the assassinated governor of the province of Antique in the Philippines, and the song has become a symbol of his sacrifice for democracy. Javier was shot and killed in the plaza of San Jose, Antique, during the counting following the 1986 snap election, an act which contributed to the peaceful overthrow of Ferdinand Marcos by Cory Aquino in the People Power Revolution. Every year, Javier is remembered on Evelio Javier Day and the song is featured. The song's lyrics are written in brass on a monument in the plaza where he was shot.
The 1967 Boston Red Sox were baseball's big surprise that season. Coming off nine straight years of finishing ninth or tenth in the American League, they surprised the baseball world, under rookie manager Dick Williams, by winning the American League pennant, before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in game seven of the World Series. During that season, the Red Sox became known as "The Impossible Dream Red Sox", and have been known as such ever since. [10] [11] [12] [13]
The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful American vocal band, with 12 number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100. Most of these hits were written and produced by Motown's main songwriting and production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland. Their breakthrough is considered to have made it possible for future African-American R&B and soul musicians to find mainstream success. Billboard ranked the Supremes as the 16th greatest Hot 100 artist of all time.
Neil Leslie Diamond is an American singer-songwriter. He has sold more than 130 million records worldwide, making him one of the best-selling musicians of all time. He has written and recorded ten singles that reached No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and Adult Contemporary charts: "Cracklin' Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Longfellow Serenade", "I've Been This Way Before", "If You Know What I Mean", "Desirée", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight. A total of thirty-eight songs by Diamond have reached the top 10 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts, including "Sweet Caroline". He has also acted in films, making his screen debut in the 1980 musical drama film The Jazz Singer.
Man of La Mancha is a 1965 musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, music by Mitch Leigh, and lyrics by Joe Darion. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes and his 17th-century novel Don Quixote. It tells the story of the "mad" knight Don Quixote as a play within a play, performed by Cervantes and his fellow prisoners as he awaits a hearing with the Spanish Inquisition. The work is not and does not pretend to be a faithful rendition of either Cervantes' life or Don Quixote. Wasserman complained repeatedly about people taking the work as a musical version of Don Quixote.
Robert Gérard Goulet was an American and Canadian singer and actor of French-Canadian ancestry. Goulet was born and raised in Lawrence, Massachusetts, until age 13, and then spent his formative years in Canada. Cast as Sir Lancelot and originating the role in the 1960 Broadway musical Camelot starring opposite established Broadway stars Richard Burton and Julie Andrews, he achieved instant recognition with his performance and interpretation of the song "If Ever I Would Leave You", which became his signature song. His debut in Camelot marked the beginning of a stage, screen, and recording career. A Grammy Award winner, his career spanned almost six decades. He starred in a 1966 television version of Brigadoon, a production which won five primetime Emmy Awards. In 1968, he won the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Musical for The Happy Time, a musical about a French-Canadian family set in Ottawa.
John Allan Jones was an American singer and actor. He was primarily a straight-pop singer whose forays into jazz were mostly of the big-band/swing music variety. He won two Grammy Awards and received five nominations for Grammys. Notably, he sang the opening theme song for the television series The Love Boat.
Cynthia Ann Birdsong is an American singer who became famous as a member of The Supremes in 1967, when she replaced co-founding member Florence Ballard. Birdsong had previously been a member of Patti LaBelle & The Bluebelles.
Edward James Kendrick, better known as Eddie Kendricks, was an American tenor singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group the Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. He was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do the Things You Do", "Get Ready", and "Just My Imagination ". As a solo artist, Kendricks recorded several hits of his own during the 1970s including the number-one singles "Keep On Truckin'" and "Boogie Down."
TCB is a 1968 television special produced by Motown Productions and George Schlatter–Ed Friendly Productions of Laugh-In fame. The special is a musical revue starring Motown's two most popular groups at the time, Diana Ross & the Supremes and The Temptations. Containing a combination of showtunes, specially prepared numbers, and popular Motown hits, the special was taped before a live studio audience in September 1968 and originally broadcast December 9, 1968 on NBC, sponsored by the Timex watch corporation. The title of the program uses a then-popular acronym, "TCB", which stands for "Taking Care of Business".
"I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" is a soul song most popularly released as a joint single performed by Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations for the Motown label. This version peaked for two weeks at No. 2 on the Hot 100 in the United States, selling 900,000 copies in its first two weeks, and at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1969.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown in late 1968 to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special, the album was a success, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200. Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations spent four weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
Dale Wasserman was an American playwright, perhaps best known for his book, Man of La Mancha.
"What Now, My Love?" is the English title of a popular song whose original French version, "Et maintenant" was written in 1961 by composer Gilbert Bécaud and lyricist Pierre Delanoë. The recurring rhythmic pattern in the background is the Boléro, an 18th century traditional Spanish dance perhaps best known for Maurice Ravel's reworking in 1928. English lyrics and the title were written by Carl Sigman.
The Impossible Dream may refer to:
Rhydian James Roberts, also known mononymously as Rhydian, is a Welsh former baritone singer, television presenter and musical theatre actor. He rose to fame in series 4 of The X Factor (2007), and subsequently became less widely known. Rhydian Roberts retired from performing in February 2023 with a farewell album. He is currently an artist manager at Neil O'Brien Entertainment.
"All I Need" is a 1967 hit single recorded by The Temptations for the Gordy (Motown) label. It is the group's first single to be produced by Norman Whitfield's protégé Frank Wilson. Written by Wilson, Eddie Holland and R. Dean Taylor, the single was a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 8; it was also a number-two hit on the Billboard R&B singles chart.
So Nice is an album by American pop singer Johnny Mathis released through Mercury Records on September 16, 1966. The singer included a trio of musical numbers from Man of La Mancha in this set as well as songs from Funny Girl, Kismet, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, shows that he had recognized on previous releases. Mathis also covers recent imports from France and Brazil and offers a rendition of a 1944 hit record as part of the mix.
David Anthony Stuart Atkinson was a Canadian baritone and New York Broadway actor/singer. Most of his career was spent performing in musicals and operettas in New York City from the late 1940s through the early 1970s, although he did appear in some operas and made a few television appearances. In 1952 he created the role of Sam in the world premiere of Leonard Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti. From 1956-1962 he was a leading performer at the New York City Opera where he starred in several musicals and appeared in the world premieres of several English language operas. His greatest success on the stage came late in his career: the role of Cervantes in Man of La Mancha which he portrayed in the original Broadway production, the 1968 national tour, and in the 1972 Broadway revival.
"Sunrise, Sunset" is a song from the musical Fiddler on the Roof written in 1964 by composer Jerry Bock and lyricist Sheldon Harnick. The song is performed at the wedding of Tzeitel. The two parents sing about how they can't believe their daughter and her groom have grown up, while Hodel and Perchik sing about whether there may be a wedding in the near future for them.
"With These Hands" is a song written by Benny Davis and Abner Silver and performed by Eddie Fisher featuring Hugo Winterhalter and His Orchestra. It reached number 7 on the U.S. pop chart in 1953.