The history of the group starts with the instrumental outfit, The Nite-Liters which had originally been formed in 1963 in Louisville, Kentucky by Tony Churchill and Harvey Fuqua, and featured, in its heydey, besides Churchill on tenor sax and vibes, Charlie Hearndon on guitar, James Baker on keyboards, Robin Russell on drums, Robert "Lurch" Jackson on trumpet, Austin Lander on baritone sax, Leroy Taylor on bass, and, later, Carl McDaniel on guitar. (Earlier members included Johnny Graham, later of Earth, Wind & Fire) and Jerry Bell. Under this name the group had a few hits before the formation of New Birth proper. In 1969, Vernon Bullock had thought of creating an ensemble of groups for a touring company, and Harvey Fuqua and Tony Churchill soon took an interest. After discovering a male vocal group, The Now Sound, which featured Bobby Downs, Ron Coleman, Gary Young and an individual known as "Slim," and a female vocal group, known as Mint Julip, which featured Londee Loren, Tanita Gaines, Janice Carter and Pam Swent, they brought them together with The Nite-Liters and additional vocalist, Alan Frye and called the newly formed ensemble New Birth. The band came together in 1970 with their self-titled debut on RCA. Their second album, Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing, yielded a minor hit with their cover of Perry Como's "It's Impossible", in 1971.
Later that year, Bullock discovered a group from Detroit, Michigan called Love, Peace & Happiness which featured former Marvelettes singer Ann Bogan and brothers Leslie and Melvin Wilson. Finding that they had the spark that was missing from the New Birth ensemble, he paired them with the Nite-Liters and original members of New Birth, Londee Loren, Bobby Downs and Alan Frye. In 1972, the reorganized group (as a seventeen-piece ensemble) hit the R&B top ten with their cover of Bobby Womack and The Valentinos' "I Can Understand It", which paved the way for the band's future success. By the time the song hit the stores, however, Ann left to devote time to her family, leaving Londee Loren as the sole female member. Due to a brief dispute with their management company, their next hit, "Until It's Time for You to Go" featured, instead of the group members, future Supremes member Susaye Greene as lead vocalist.
In 1974, the group issued their hit album, It's Been a Long Time, which spawned the hits including the title track and their cover of the psychedelic single "Wildflower", which became a top ten hit in the UK singles chart. After the release of their sixth RCA album, Comin' From All Ends, the group split from RCA, Fuqua and their management company and signed with Buddah.
New Birth's Buddah debut, Blind Baby, featured the group's only number-one R&B single, a cover of the Jerry Butler classic, "Dream Merchant". After the release of the 1977 album, Behold The Mighty Army, the Wilson brothers split from the group following in-fighting and growing tensions in the group.
The group returned in 1979 James Baker, Tony Chruchill and Austin Lander introduce Jerry Bell as their new lead vocalist with Platinum City and in 1982 with the I'm Back album. Leslie Wilson had left the group to replace Jeffrey Osborne in L.T.D.. Jerry Bell left the group in 1981 to become the lead vocalist for Motown's Dazz Band.
The Wilsons toured with a new ensemble as New Birth in 1994, and released a few albums under the new name in the decade since. Drummer Robin Russell released a solo CD entitled Drum Beats in 2004 and Jerry Bell re-recored there hit "It"s Been Such A Long Time" 2010 for Lotus Records/ Bunglo/ Universal Records Music Group.
Since the group's initial split, their songs have been covered from the likes of Jamie Foxx, who sampled their cover of "Wildflower" for his 2005 hit, "Unpredictable". R&B group Something for the People sampled their "It's Been a Long Time" for their 1996 hit, "My Love is the Shhh". Rap artist Lil' Wayne sampled "You Don't Have to Be Alone" from their self-titled album in his song "La La" and Jerry Bell "It"s Been Such A Long Time 2010.
Singer Gary Young died in 2018.
Discography
As The Nite-Liters
* Nite-Liters (RCA Records, 1970)
* Morning, Noon & the Nite-Liters (RCA, 1971) US #167, US Black Albums #31
* Instrumental Directions (RCA, 1972) US #198, US Black Albums #41
* Different Strokes (RCA, 1972)
* A-Nal-Y-Sis (RCA, 1973) US Black Albums #34
Love, Peace & Happiness-
* Love Is Stronger (RCA, 1971)
* Here 'Tis (RCA, 1972)
As New Birth
* The New Birth (RCA, 1971)
* Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing (RCA, 1971) US #189, US Black Albums #50
* Comin' Together (RCA, 1972) US Black Albums #40
* Birth Day (RCA, 1973) US #31, US Black Albums #1
* It's Been a Long Time (RCA, 1974) US #50, US Black Albums #7
* Comin' From All Ends (RCA, 1974) US #56, US Black Albums #20
* Blind Baby (Buddah Records, 1975) US #57, US Black Albums #17
* Love Potion (Warner Bros. Records, 1976) US #168, US Black Albums #22
* Behold the Mighty Army (Warner Bros. Records, 1977) US #164, US Black Albums #28
* Disco (RCA, 1977)
* Reincarnation (RCA, 1977)
* Platinum City (Capitol Records, 1979)
* I'm Back (1982)
* God's Children (PNEC Records, 1998)
* I Am Blessed (Trio Records, 2004)
* Lifetime (Orpheus Records, 2005)
[edit] Singles
Year Title Chart Positions
U.S. Pop Singles U.S. Black Singles
1971 "It's Impossible" 52 12
"K-Jee" 39 17
1972 "(We've Got to) Pull Together" - 27
"Afro-Strut" 49 24
"I Don't Want to Do Wrong" - 41
1973 "I Can Understand It" 35 4
"Until It's Time for You to Go" 97 21
1974 "I Wash My Hands of the Whole Damn Deal, Part I" 88 46
"It's Been a Long Time" 66 9
"Wildflower" 45 17
1975 "Comin' From All Ends" - 76
"Dream Merchant" 36 1
"Grandaddy (Part I)" 95 28
1976 "The Long and Winding Road"
It's Impossible
The New Birth Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's impossible, tell the sun to leave the sky
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
It's impossible, ask a baby not to cry
It's just impossible
And not feel you, going through me
Split the second, honey, that I never, never think of you
Oh, how impossible, oh ho, oh ho, ooh
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
If I had you could I ever want for more
It's just impossible
Oh, and tomorrow should you ask me for the world
Somehow I'd get it, baby, I'd sell my very soul
I won't regret it, no, no, for to live without your love
Oh, it just ain't no way, oh no, oh no baby
No no no no no no no
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore?
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
If I had you could I ever want for more
It's just impossible
Oh, and tomorrow should you ask me for the world
Somehow I'd get it, baby I would sell my very soul
I won't regret it, no, no, for to live without your love
Oh, it just ain't no way
Impossible, ooh impossible
Impossible, ooh impossible
Impossible, ooh impossible
The New Birth's song It's Impossible is a passionate love ballad that explores the idea of the impossible becoming possible with the power of love. The lyrics express the overwhelming feeling of love and the lengths one would go to keep it. The opening lines speak to the impossibility of asking the sun to leave the sky or a baby not to cry. These impossible scenarios are an analogy for the impossibility of living without someone's love.
The singer then goes on to express his desire to hold the person close to him and never let go. He describes the feeling of the person going through him, signifying the depth of emotion and connection he feels towards them. The second verse continues with the theme of impossibility by questioning whether the ocean can keep from rushing to the shore and whether having the person would leave any room for wanting more.
The chorus repeats the idea that it's impossible to live without the person's love and that the singer would do anything, even sell his very soul, to have it. The song ends with a final repetition of the word "impossible," emphasizing the importance and power of love to overcome even the most impossible challenges.
Line by Line Meaning
Impossible, ooh impossible
The situation being described is impossible and unattainable
It's impossible, tell the sun to leave the sky
The task being asked is so impossible that not even the sun could comply
It's just impossible
The impossibility of the situation is absolute
(It's impossible)
Reiteration of the absolute impossibility
It's impossible, ask a baby not to cry
The impossibility of the situation is as fundamental to nature as a baby crying
Oh, can I hold you, closer, closer to me, baby
The singer desires to be close to their loved one
And not feel you, going through me
The singer desires to fully immerse themselves in the feeling of being close to their loved one
Split the second, honey, that I never, never think of you
The singer is constantly thinking of their loved one, even if for a moment they happen to not be
Oh, how impossible, oh ho, oh ho, ooh
The singer emphasizes the impossibility of not thinking about their loved one
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore
The inevitability of the ocean rushing to the shore is being compared to the difficulty of the situation
If I had you could I ever want for more
The singer believes that having their loved one would make them content and satisfy all their needs
Oh, and tomorrow should you ask me for the world
The singer would do anything for their loved one, including trying to give them the impossible
Somehow I'd get it, baby, I'd sell my very soul
The singer would even make a deal with the devil for their loved one
I won't regret it, no, no, for to live without your love
The singer values their loved one so much that they would not regret doing anything for them, for living without their love is not worth it
Oh, it just ain't no way, oh no, oh no baby
There is no way to live without their love
No no no no no no no
Reiteration of the impossibility of living without their love
Impossible, ooh impossible
The impossibility of the situation is emphasized again
Impossible, ooh impossible
Reiteration of the impossibility of the situation
Impossible, ooh impossible
Final emphasis of the impossibility of the situation
Contributed by Sydney M. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@Servant_of_TMH
Impossible, ooh impossible
It's impossible, tell the sun to leave the sky
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
It's impossible, ask a baby not to cry
It's just impossible
Oh, can I hold you, closer, closer to me, baby
And not feel you, going through me
Split the second, honey, that I never, never think of you
Oh, how impossible, oh ho, oh ho, ooh
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
If I had you could I ever want for more
It's just impossible
Oh, and tomorrow should you ask me for the world
Somehow I'd get it, baby, I'd sell my very soul
I won't regret it, no, no, for to live without your love
Oh, it just ain't no way, oh no, oh no baby
No no no no no no no
Can the ocean keep from rushing to the shore?
It's just impossible
(It's impossible)
If I had you could I ever want for more
It's just impossible
Oh, and tomorrow should you ask me for the world
Somehow I'd get it, baby I would sell my very soul
I won't regret it, no, no, for to live without your love
Oh, it just ain't no way
Impossible, ooh impossible
Impossible, ooh impossible
Impossible, ooh impossible
@RobertJrMoss-ug1vp
My mother played this song when I was a child during the 70's. Thanx to her I have a vivid taste of music...
@gregorybryant2734
My Father and I use to listen to this song every morning on our way to work. The fact I no longer have him is just Impossible, with tears as I think of him Barry Larry Louis Bryant I love you and miss you dearly
@hErbBoogIe
Kanye West didnt bring me here.. my moms brought me here back from when i was a youngster, hearing this blasting over the sound of a vacuum cleaner on a Saturday morning..love you moms.
@jacobdunnohew23
Kanye sampled this?
@ramonawilson9361
Best Memories 😊 I was 10..and would smile and sing..and dream about slow dancing when I finally get to go to the school dance. ❤
@dianecurtis1102
"IT'S IMPOSSIBLE " NOT TO FEEL THIS! IF YOU DON'T.....CHECK YOUR PULSE!!!!! THIS IS THE TRUTH 🔥🔥🔥🔥
@wymell9724
Diane you better quit telling the truth maybe impossible that was true love
@corywright6595
such power in this song. they don't make music like this anymore.
@debbiedotson4860
Cory Wright Yes!! I agree.
@jusskelula6617
I