I was at Folk Alliance International in 2017 and had the opportunity to hear these four gentlemen in a bluegrass band lean into one microphone and create a harmony that literally was so beautiful it made me cry. It touched something deep inside me that knew this music intimately, even though I’ve never studied or played much bluegrass in this lifetime. I carried that feeling for days, of a beauty that goes beyond our senses, beyond our “normal” experience of life, until I could sit down and put it into song form with “Impossible Beauty”, done as a waltz to honor the musical traditions which inspired it’s creation.
Lyrics
IMPOSSIBLE BEAUTY / Susan B. Shann / © 2017
We go through our days in a dull, sterile haze
Of punch lists and deadlines
Then it’s home from the cold war, turn the keys in the front door
Honey, pour me some red wine
But in spite of the routines, the same old familiar scenes
There’s something that breaks through
And catches me unaware, just like a whispered prayer
Or the light when the day is new
Impossible beauty, limitless love
Intangible sweetness, the kind that dreams are made of
A glimpse of perfection, in this imperfect place
Impossible beauty, limitless love, a true state of grace
It might be an old song, a call from a dear one
That makes me remember
Or maybe your soft kiss, gentle upon my lips
When we’re lying together
Boundaries melt away, time stops and all else fades
Caught in the rapture
Of a feeling words can’t express, but just like your warm caress
It lingers long after it’s through
Impossible beauty, limitless love
Intangible sweetness, the kind that dreams are made of
A glimpse of perfection, in an imperfect place
Impossible beauty, limitless love, a true state of grace