The Impossible Dream

Elvis first sung the song at the International Hotel in January 1971, yet the origins of the song went back more a good few centuries.

Sometimes known as 'The Quest,' it was written by Mitch Leigh and Joe Darlon, and was the key song in the musical 'Man of La Mancha,' which started in Broadway in 1965 and, after a spell at the West End in 1968, became a film in 1972. 'The Impossible Dream' was covered by artists such as Shirley Bassey, Matt Monro, Glen Campbell and Andy Williams prior to the King.

'Man of La Mancha,' the teleplay (which was called 'I, Don Quixote'), the book and the play were all written by a Wisconsin born man named Dale Wasserman - the play has since been translated into roughly 20 languages.

Wasserman based the play on both the previously written teleplay and a 1605 novel by a Spanish man called Miguel de Cervantes called 'The Ingenious Nobleman Sir Quixote of La Mancha,' or rather just 'Don Quixote.'

Cervantes said that he took inspiration for the first few chapters from 'The Archives of La Mancha,' which also dated back many years. Also, in 1613, William Shakespeare and John Fletcher's play 'The History of Cardenio' was first performed in London and was based on Cervantes work.