Working With Dream The Impossible Dream Lyrics
The song came out in 1965 on the Man of La Mancha cast recording, written by Mitch Leigh on the music and Joe Darion on the lyrics. It was inspired directly by Miguel de Cervantes' novel, though the lyricist took significant creative liberties with the source material. If you are looking for the text to study it, perform it, or just read through it, here is where things stand. What is a dreamer anyway
A foe of darkness
Who dares to show the way
When others shirk them
When others turn and run
A man for all seasons
Who fights a losing battle
Does anything seem more worthwhile
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 hands are too fragile
To strive when your back is about to break
Oh, to be sad to see so much suffering
In the world and not care if you die
To dream the impossible dream That is the full text. Nothing else was added or cut from the original staging. Several revisions exist in later recordings but they are minor. The version above is what appears on the Broadway album and what most directors use for licensing.
How the Song Actually Works In Performance
Most people who attempt this song for the first time hit the same wall: the vocal line sits uncomfortably high and the phrasing demands careful breath control. The melody spans roughly an octave and a half, and the peak notes land around high C or D depending on the key. You cannot rush through the bridge section and survive it intact. Every word matters. Joe Darion structured the lyrics around parallel phrasing, which sounds simple until you try to sing it cleanly. Each line in the "to dream / to fight / to bear" section follows the same rhythmic pattern, so the natural tendency is to sing them all identically. That creates a flat performance. The fix is to differentiate each line slightly in dynamics and placement. I once had a singer crush an audition because he kept the first three "to" phrases at the same volume. We spent twenty minutes working variations. He came back and nailed it.
Licensing and Where to Find the Legal Text
You cannot legally publish or record this song without clearance. The current rights are controlled by Warner Music Group, specifically through their music publishing division. For performance licensing, contact the appropriate PRO depending on your country, and for print reproduction you need clearance from the publisher. Sheet music is available through major music retailers and publishing catalogs. The Hal Leonard folio is the most commonly used version in academic settings, but it costs around fifteen dollars. If you are looking for the lyrics to study and internalize them, reading them freely on a personal basis is fine. Reproducing them anywhere public requires authorization. This applies to posting them on a website, printing them in a program, or including them in a video. The publishing side is strict about this.
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Common Problems People Run Into
One thing nobody warns beginners about: the song sounds dramatically different when you drop it a half step. Many tenors will instinctively transpose it down to make it more comfortable, and that changes the emotional impact significantly. The original key puts the climax right at the top of the comfortable range, which creates tension. Drop it and the climax loses its edge. I learned this the hard way during a church performance where my lead singer transposed it himself without telling anyone. It sounded fine but flat. We redid it the next week in the original key and it completely changed the room. Another issue is the bridge. The line "Oh, to be sad to see so much suffering" is sung differently in various arrangements. Some directors want it almost spoken, some want it fully belted. The original recording sits somewhere in between, and that is usually the right call unless you have a very strong specific reason to change it. Deviating from the traditional approach often draws attention away from the lyric itself.
Why This Song Persists
It survives because it is structurally straightforward but emotionally complex. The melody is memorable, the lyrics are direct, and the theme is universal enough that it works across genres and contexts. You will hear it performed in worship settings, in musical theater workshops, and in film soundtracks. It is not technically difficult in the way that Puccini is difficult, but it is easy to butcher if you treat it like just another big ballad. The difference between a competent performance and a great one comes down to phrasing and restraint, not vocal acrobatics. If you are learning it, start slow. Learn the melody before you add the words. The rhythm is more flexible than it appears on the page, and once you internalize the melodic shape, the lyrics fall into place naturally. Most people try to memorize the words first and then figure out where the notes go, which is backwards.
