The Impossible Dream

Richard Kiley

1965

If my life had a theme song, this one might be it. What’s more, and very much related to that, I suppose it would have been understandable for anyone along the way to have believed that my one lifelong “impossible” dream was always to one day walk, like everyone else. 

But just as I’ve told people so many times over the years, I was raised like any other normal able-bodied kid. And, as such, I dreamt accordingly. So, my impossible dream was never so mundane as to merely walk. It was, just like so many other kids in my neighborhood, to achieve one moment of athletic greatness; to hit the go-ahead jump shot as time expired, to score the winning touchdown, or to carry my team to victory with a dramatic two-out home run in the bottom of the ninth.

But from the very moment I heard this showstopper from Man of La Mancha in 1965, it spoke to me in ways that went far beyond its title. It was the song’s lyrics that touched me – lyrics that spoke of righting unrightable wrongs, of striving with your last ounce of courage, of loving pure and chaste from afar, and of marching into hell for a heavenly cause. 

The lyrics of this song, in fact, are just one more tiny reason why, as it turned out, nothing in this life would ever motivate me any more to succeed than being told I couldn’t do something.

Now, of all the versions of The Impossible Dream I could have shared with you today, I chose this one from the original cast album, where Richard Kiley sings it in character; sings it as Don Quixote, the simple man who dared to dream big, who dared to keep bouncing back every time life knocked him down, and above all, who dared to live out his days, out of love for his fellow man, fighting dragons and tilting at windmills. 

And I know, if I’ll only be true

To this glorious quest,

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I’m laid to my rest.