After Navarette, in early May 2013, thoroughly drenched by rain, cold from the wind and single-digit temperatures (centigrade), my "ear-worm" reared his head and started belting out "
The Impossible Dream" from the musical "
Man of La Mancha." The 1965 play was about the main character in the classic novel "
Don Quixote," as written by Sr. Miguel de Cervantes.
Most of you likely read the book at some point or another. If you have not done, I highly recommend it. It is a classic of not only Spanish literature but of all western literature. I tend to re-read it every decade or so. Much of the story takes place in the La Mancha region of central Spain. In Santiago there is even a Praza de Cervantes not to far from the Cathedral along the Rua de San Beito.
I vividly recall as a pre-teen - I was 12 in 1965 - we had to learn to sing this song in the thrice-weekly music classes we were all subjected to. As I cannot carry a tune in a bucket I also remember the uncomfortable feeling when told "okay - now the boys only...
." Accordingly, until and unless I suffer from dementia or amnesia, the tune is permanently seared into my grey cells - those that remain anyway...
By 1972, the play was developed as a film, "
Man of La Mancha." The title role, Don Quioxte, went to Peter O'Toole, James Coco was Sancho, and Sophia Loren was Aldonza. What a cast! Peter O' Toole - fabulous actor - R.I.P. December 2013
My "worm" must have realized that I needed something stirring to endure the daily rain, wind, and mud - always mud. Hence these words (I cheated slightly and searched for the correct lyrics). Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa:
The Impossible Dream
By Mitch Lee and Joe Darion, 1965
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 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 star...
In passing, it is interesting to note that the term "Compostela" translates roughly to "field of stars." So, there you go! I have a very devious and clever "ear-worm."
But it worked!