The Doctor is In! - Doing the Impossible

Doing the Impossible

Speaking of his two passions, Francis Ford Coppola once said, “When someone makes a great wine or a great film he has done the impossible.” He should know. He directed one of my all-time favorite film franchises—“The Godfather.”

Think about it. In a single film, there are so many elements that have to be done well and work well together for it to become a great work of art. There is production, direction, casting, acting, the screenplay, film editing, sound editing, lighting, special effects, incidental music, songs, music editing, marketing, and the timing of the film’s release just to name a few. Even when every element is done perfectly, a film can turn out mediocre. How many times have you felt that a great actor was placed in the wrong role, or the story worked better as a novel? Or perhaps there’s a song, wonderful on its own merit, but doesn’t work in the film. 

Because the process is so vast and perhaps quixotic, there is one element that is critical for a film, or any work of art for that matter, to be better than good, reach the sublime, or achieve the impossible. It is that intangible thing that cannot be learned, acquired or controlled. It’s called SERENDIPITY or DIVINE PROVIDENCE! You may recall my description of this quality in a previous blog.

On a smaller scale, the same process is at work in creating a great song. Everyone has had the experience of wondering why a great song didn’t become a hit. A wonderful example of serendipity at work is the success of the song “I Will Always Love You.” Written and recorded several times by Dolly Parton, this song reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart twice—once in 1974 and again in 1982. Both recordings had modest success on the pop charts. Then Whitney Houston recorded it in 1992 for the soundtrack to the movie, “The Bodyguard,” starring Houston and Kevin Costner. It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, selling over 12 million copies worldwide! Dolly Parton’s earlier successes had already demonstrated the song’s viability. What made the difference in Whitney Houston’s version? Consider too that Whitney’s rendition begins a cappella, which is unconventional for pop radio and was discouraged by her record label. I submit that it was the serendipitous coming together of several elements—a great song, Whitney’s phenomenal vocal performance, a great musical arrangement, tasteful production, the association with a hit film, and the perfect timing of the film’s release as well as the single—that conspired to do the impossible.

I understand this phenomenon from another perspective when I look at the longevity of TAKE 6. It’s clear to me that when TAKE 6’s current line-up came together in 1991 that God had done the impossible. Alvin, our bass singer, once said that it was the “coming together of the tribal chiefs.” Most, if not all, of us led vocal groups of our own before joining TAKE 6. Our singing inspires my vocal arranging and then often exceeds the expectations that I have for my arrangements. Handpicked by God, the whole is significantly more than the sum of its parts. Because with God, all things are possible (Matt. 19:26).

Cedric Dent is a baritone vocalist in Take 6 and an accomplished producer and music arranger. Dr. Dent is a professor of Music at Middle Tennessee State University. He studied at the University of Michigan (B.M., Vocal Music Education), University of Alabama (M.M., Music Theory/Arranging), and the University of Maryland (Ph.D., Music Theory).