Did the original cast single chart?

No, but Jack Jones’s 1966 cover hit #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart.

Has the song won any specific songwriting awards?

Yes. Mitch Leigh received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Classics Award for “The Impossible Dream.”

Which film features the song?

The 1972 movie adaptation of Man of La Mancha includes the full number.

Why do politicians love it?

Its message of striving despite long odds made it Robert F. Kennedy’s unofficial 1968 campaign anthem.

Most surprising modern use?

Honda’s 2005 “Impossible Dream” advert sets Andy Williams’s version against a high-octane vehicle montage.

Impossible Dream Lyrics – Man of La Mancha

Impossible Dream Lyrics

The Impossible Dream (The Quest) by Richard Kiley

(The Quest)

ALDONZA
Why do you do these things?

DON QUIXOTE
What things?

ALDONZA
These ridiculous... the things you do!

DON QUIXOTE
I hope to add some measure of grace to the world.

ALDONZA
The world's a dung heap and we are maggots that crawl on it!

DON QUIXOTE
My Lady knows better in her heart.

ALDONZA
What's in my heart will get me halfway to hell.
And you, Se?or Don Quixote-you're going to take
such a beating!

DON QUIXOTE
Whether I win or lose does not matter.

ALDONZA
What does?

DON QUIXOTE
Only that I follow the quest.

ALDONZA
(spits)
That for your Quest!
(turns, marches away; stops, turns bock
and asks, awkwardly)
What does that mean... quest?

DON QUIXOTE
It is the mission of each true knight...
His duty... nay, his privilege!
To dream the impossible dream,
To fight the unbeatable foe,
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go;
To right the unrightable wrong.

To love, pure and chaste, from afar,
To try, when your arms are too weary,
To reach the unreachable star!

This is my Quest to follow that star,
No matter how hopeless, no matter how far,
To fight for the right
Without question or pause,
To be willing to march into hell
For a heavenly cause!

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.

And the world will be better for this,
That one man, scorned and covered with scars,
Still strove, with his last ounce of courage,
To reach the unreachable stars!
Last Update: July, 23rd 2025

Song Overview

The Impossible Dream (The Quest) lyrics by Richard Kiley — Richard Kiley is singing the ‘The Impossible Dream (The Quest)’ lyrics in the music video.

Personal Review

Richard Kiley performing The Impossible Dream (The Quest) — Performance in the music video.

I first heard The Impossible Dream (The Quest) on a battered mono radio in late-night Chicago, and it felt less like a Broadway show-tune and more like a dare whispered through the speaker grill. Richard Kiley’s baritone doesn’t just recite lyrics—it hoists them aloft like a battle-standard. Even now, half a century on, that opening line “To dream the impossible dream” still makes my spine straighten, as though someone just handed me armor and pointed toward dawn.

Song Credits

Scene from The Impossible Dream (The Quest) by Richard Kiley — Scene from ‘The Impossible Dream (The Quest)’.

Featured: Richard Kiley
Producer: Michael Kapp
Composer: Mitch Leigh
Lyricist: Joe Darion
Arranger/Orchestrator: Carlyle W. Hall Sr.
Musical Director: Neil Warner
Release Date: December 1965
Genre: Show Tune / Traditional Pop
Instruments: Flamenco guitars, brass choir, bass, snare drum, woodwinds
Label: Kapp Records
Mood: Aspirational, stirring
Length: 2 : 47 (cast version)
Track #: 11 on original cast album
Language: English
Album: Man of La Mancha—Original Broadway Cast Recording
Music style: March-tinged ballad
Poetic meter: Alternating iambic and anapestic lines

Songs Exploring Themes of Hope & Perseverance

While Quixote scales unreachable stars, Rodgers & Hammerstein’s You’ll Never Walk Alone (1945) quiets the storm; its hymn-like pace reassures rather than exhorts. The lyric promises company through darkness, a softer brand of hope.

Meanwhile, Climb Ev’ry Mountain from The Sound of Music (1959) blends choral grandeur with alpine imagery. Where Quixote speaks of personal valor, the Mother Abbess frames perseverance as spiritual duty—different path, same summit.

In contrast, Gloria Gaynor’s disco evergreen I Will Survive (1978) trades medieval quests for dance-floor defiance. The pulse is secular, even sassy, yet the common thread—stand tall against impossible odds—still glitters beneath the mirror ball.

Questions and Answers

Did the original cast single chart?: No, but Jack Jones’s 1966 cover hit #35 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart.
Has the song won any specific songwriting awards?: Yes. Composer Mitch Leigh received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s Contemporary Classics Award for “The Impossible Dream.”

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