Googling the phrase “impossible task” results in two categories of hits: the impossible tasks found in English folk songs (Scarborough Fair/Elfin Knight etc) and the impossible nature of everyday tasks for those suffering from depression or anxiety. So I thought I’d combine the two in a song which took me a great deal of time and effort to write. As usual, I wrote far too many words and had to drastically prune them. I solved the problem of having too many choruses by allowing this section to grow organically throughout the course of the song. Neil Finn used the same trick in his Don’t Stop Now. (Written and recorded September 2018 – August 2019).
Lyrics
Sing me a song with no words and no music.
Silence in chorus and silence in verse
Hear all the harmony heaven denied you
Bound with a blessing and sealed with a curse
Fetch me a flower with no petals or perfume
No heady scent of the meadow in spring
Savour the fragrance no garden can grant you
Spicy aromas no blossoms can bring
So you say that’s impossible. Where to begin?
But it’s nothing compared to the state that I’m in.
Paint me a picture with no brush or canvas
Draft me a sketch with no pencil or pen
Count all the colours no rainbow can rival
Shades and complexions no artist has seen
So you swear that’s impossible. Where would you start?
But it’s nothing compared to the state of my heart
‘Cos that’s what’s impossible
Yes, that’s what’s impossible
Grant me a kiss with no passion or purpose
Heartlessly given then stolen away
Burnt by the feelings you squandered so idly
With nothing to fight for and nothing to say
If you think that’s impossible, just can’t be done
Well, it’s easy compared to the thing I’ve become
Where the smallest of tasks and the lightest of loads
Is like pushing a rock up a steep mountain road
That’s what’s impossible
Yes, that’s what’s impossible