Song Lyric Sunday was created by Helen Vahdati from This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time and author Jim Adams from A Unique Title For Me is our current guest host. For complete rules or to join in the fun, click here.

This week’s theme is  “Baking/Bread/Cake/Pie/Picnic.”

~~~~~~~~~~

Here’s me…being ME! 😀

I chose a group whose name included one of this week’s prompts… Bread.

Originally recorded by Bread, If went all the way to number four on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1971. It also spent three weeks at number one on the U.S. Easy Listening chart as well as at the top of the Canadian AC chart.

The band’s keyboardist, David Gates, wrote the song, saying, “I wrote that one night at the dining room table, after my kids and my wife had gone to bed. It took me about an hour and a half, with an extra verse left over. If you look at it, there’s a few bizarre lines in there, like ‘you and I would simply fly away’ – that’s kind of an unusual thought. When I was done, I said, ‘That’s the best song I’ve ever written and probably will be the best song I’ll ever write.’ For me it’s really held up over time, more than any of the others.”

FUN FACTS:

• In the U.S., Bread’s version of If was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with “7.”
• The song has been recorded by dozens of artists in the last 49 years and charted for several. Even actor, Telly Savalas, recorded a mostly-spoken version which reached number one on the UK Singles Chart for two weeks in March 1975.
• After Bread disbanded in 1973, David Gates enjoyed a successful solo career with If as his signature song.

Just in case Boomers aren’t feeling old enough today, David Gates is 79-years-old and has remained married to high school sweetheart Jo Rita since 1959. Together they raised four children: three lawyers and a cardiothoracic surgeon. Gates, who studied the cattle ranching business while touring with Bread, purchased a 1,400-acre (570 ha) cattle ranch financed by royalties he earned during his time with the group. According to his Facebook page, he lives happily with his wife in Mount Vernon, Washington, enjoying his retirement. You’re welcome. 🙂

Enjoy!

See my Song Lyric Sunday selection for FeliciaDenise.com.

~~~

Disclaimer: I have no copyrights to the song and/or video and/or hyperlinks to songs and/or videos and/or gifs above. No copyright infringement intended.