Savoring Bread

It's been an essential for longer than we can recall, existing since prehistoric times. We have a hunger for it, even a yearning. It can add sweetness to your life or come across a little salty. Or even leave a bitter taste in your mouth. It is so fulfilling once we experience it fully. And some of us even avoid it for the sake of our health.

You can say all this about bread, but I’m talking about love.

Did you know that Bread is also a band?

Bread was an American soft-rock band that charted thirteen songs between 1970 and 1977, with a majority of those hits in the first three years. The nineteen seventies? That’s ancient grains these days. But the songwriting skills of David Gates (lead vocals and guitar) transcends time and taste buds.

Just as bread is a relatively simple staple in the pantry, the genesis of the band's name came about even simpler. A bread truck came along right at the time Gates, Jimmy Griffin (guitar and vocals) and Rob Royer (bass guitar and backing vocals) were trying to think of a name for the band before signing with Elektra Records in 1969. They were drawn to the names universal appeal (who doesn’t love it?) and that it began with a B; like the Beatles and the Bee Gees.

The first time Bread (yes, the band) came along in my life was while cooking up songs for a friend’s wedding in the early aughts. I was paired up with her mom who was a musically driven teen during the seventies. We were in charge of finding love songs to play during dinner at the wedding’s reception and she suggested the band. That was my starter to Bread and my introduction to “Baby I’m-A Want You” from their 1972 album of the same name.

My appreciation for Bread has since risen. The story-telling of Gates through vocals speaks to me as both an introvert and a hopeless romantic. There is a remoteness in the melodies, a longing in the lyrics, a selflessness in the songs.

So, I’m going to take you through my top five slices of Bread.

#5 “Baby I’m-A Want You”

You’re the only one I care enough to hurt about…what?! We all get caught up in the perfection of love and often forget the hurt that can come along with it – even in the most soulmate of situations. Love is life and life can be quite painful when enriched by the experiences of love. In this powerful ballad performance from Bread, there is an insatiable need that you’ll always be here stayin’ beside me through all the emotions that pass through life because baby, not only I’m-a want you, baby I’m-a need you.

#4 “If”

Fun fact, “If” was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit in the U.S. until 1993 when Prince charted with “7”, and then 2009 when Britney Spears charted with “3”. But, Bread was more concerned with 1,000 – opening the song with if a picture paints a thousand words, then why can’t I paint you? The actual word “if” can be defined as a supposition, or an uncertain belief. But the lyrics of this Bread hit speak of a certainty that there will never be enough words or time to recount the magnitude of love.

#3 “Make It With You”

Here we have Bread’s only number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100. “Make It With You” was also ranked by Billboard as the number thirteen song of 1970 and was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America for sales of over one million copies. It is a musical convincing that I really think that we could make it, girl. And also, a persuasion to actually achieve that ideal love story you just know is possible after first meetings. Because baby, you know that dreams, they’re for those who sleep while love and life, it’s for us to keep.

#2 “It Don’t Matter to Me”

 

The first time I felt like I had experienced true love, it was a selfless love. It was a situation where I felt the happiness of someone else was more important than my own. Yet, at the same time, it made me happy that they were happy. It’s more and more uncommon these days to give to another without expectations, especially in love. And it’s even more rare to find someone who will not only accept that type of love without abusing it, but to find someone who will give it back to you.

“It Don’t Matter to Me” is Bread’s telling of a selfless love where your happiness is all I want. It’s a telling of releasing someone you love in order to allow them to embody who they really are through that discovery. And a hoping that your searching brings you back together with me ‘cause there’ll always be an open heart waiting for you. With an absence of ego and expectations.

#1 “Everything I Own”

 

My Bread winner. A really great song is capable of taking on interpretations. It’s a structure of words with enough versatility that an audience can adapt the song to their own experiences. “Everything I Own” is often translated as a song about a broken relationship – the finest years I ever knew, were all the years I had with you. Gates has previously revealed though that the song was actually written about his father who died in 1963 before he achieved success.

“My success would have been so special to him as he was my greatest influence. So I decided to write and record ‘Everything I Own’ about him. If you listen to the words, ‘You sheltered me from harm, kept me warm, you gave my life to me, set me free’, it says it all.”

While we can’t argue with the creator, it’s okay to relate to a song in ways that bring you comfort. And with lyrics like nobody else could ever know, the part of me that can’t let go it’s easy to interpret it differently.

It seems lately, there is a real emphasis on the luxury of time. And my favorite part of “Everything I Own” is the call to action on the bridge where Gates sings, Is there someone you know your loving them so but taking them all for granted? You may lose them one day someone takes them away and they don’t hear the words you long to say. It can be nerve-racking to express yourself in the moments of time we take for granted, but so liberating to speak what you feel knowing you’ll only find more regret in silence.

Bread was not without its complications in the dynamics of lead vocals vs. backing vocals, as we often hear about in the stories of rock stars. By 1973 the group was enduring the complications of fame but ultimately decided to disband after their equipment and instruments were destroyed in a truck accident prior to a show. They reunited in 1976 for the “Lost Without Your Love” album, bringing them their final success as a band before quietly going separate ways again in 1977.

So there you have it, all the love, longing, and Bread you didn’t know you need – or should I say, knead?