“If” by Bread

A memorial song with a romantic view of the end of life
Posted on February 23, 2017 by Marissa Abruzzini (Blog Writer, SevenPonds)

bread song about spending your last moments with the person you loveIt’s often difficult to put into words how much you care for someone important in your life. Many of us squander the small opportunities we get every day to express our gratitude and love for the people around us. And by the time the end arrives, we find ourselves at a loss for words. Bread’s “If” captures those deep feelings of love that can’t always be expressed, making it a touching memorial song for the most precious person in your life.

This short memorial song packs a ton of meaning and emotion into just a few stanzas. The narrator laments that his feelings are frustratingly complex. He has trouble “painting” the full picture of the person he loves because such a painting would gloss over the nuances that make his love special. It’s hard to distill years of adoration into a simple image or a handful of words.

Although the song has obvious romantic overtones, its themes apply to many different kinds of relationships. In one section of the song, the singer compares the person he loves to Helen of Troy, whose face could launch a thousand ships. Yet what he means by this comparison is not just that his lover is beautiful, but that he never wants to leave her side. His love makes him feel as if he’s always home. This is a feeling that most of us have for our romantic partners. But it’s also something that we feel for other people in our lives who make us feel safe and protected and loved.

Toward the end of the song, “If” becomes more like a ballad for a love lost. The narrator imagines the end of his life and wants nothing more than to be with the person he loves most. There’s a gleam of hope in the song when he sings,

If the world should stop revolving, spinning slowly down to die,
I’d spend the end with you.
And when the world was through,
Then one by one the stars would all go out,
Then you and I would simply fly away

Rather than looking at death as the end, Bread’s “If” is a memorial song that embraces the end with vigor. It romanticizes spending those last precious moments with the person you love most, making it a comforting thought instead of a worrying one.

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23 Responses to “If” by Bread

  1. avatar Sherry says:
    April 25, 2019 at 11:53 pm

    I had an unusual experience that someone I had worked with many years passed away. I did not know it at the time.
    I had this beautiful feeling go through my face?
    And this song I did not know at the time was going through my mind then I found this song finally. I think k it was a sweet goodbye to this world? And joyous feeling like he was in heaven and we will all go to heaven eventually.
    I believe it was a communication from heaven.

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  2. avatar Susan says:
    February 3, 2020 at 4:57 pm

    I had the pleasure of going to a Bread concert in Atlanta GA in….1978ish. When David Gates introduced this song, “If”, he said it was about his father. After the concert my friends and I went to the Omni hotel…we had heard the band was staying on the second floor. We hovered near the elevators but security guards were pretty prevalent so we just sat on some sofa’s in the elevator area. We were typical teenagers…”ooooh we are going to meet David Gates” etc. corny now but we were so over the moon about this opportunity. There was a small group around another sofa section in that area. They stood up to leave and one of them walked directly to our little group and said..”so you want to meet me?”. Yup it was David Gates. We were star struck and could barely speak. I seem to remember handing him our ticket stubs to autograph. Other than that my most prominent memory was that the song was about his father. I just lost mine…unexpectantly. Tonight on our cable “sounds of the season” there was “If.” I heard it like never before. Thank you David Gates for the memory…I’ll treasure it and your song forever!!

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  3. avatar Christine says:
    June 8, 2020 at 5:56 am

    Can anyone tell me what movie the song “If” was played in please? Maybe in the 60’s or 70’s??

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  4. avatar Jvillegas says:
    March 26, 2022 at 4:12 pm

    This song is about Samantha and Darrin Stevens from BEWITCHED..

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  5. avatar Dianne Marie Van Dyke says:
    June 6, 2022 at 1:25 pm

    I have listened to this song since the album was released in the 70&s. It’s always been one of my favorites. In my mind I always thought it’s just a beautiful love song. It wasn’t until after my fiance died in December of 2004 upon listening to it again that I realized that he’s speaking to God. It blew my mind. It’s taken on a whole new meaning for me since then. Hands down, “If” is one of the most powerful songs I’ve ever heard.

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  6. avatar Alice stroud says:
    May 20, 2023 at 12:45 am

    I have always been a huge fan of bread and still I am,but the song if well I chose it as my wedding song in 1985,I never knew it was about death,I thought of it as the most touching,and romantic love song ever,and I chose it cause to me it’s always meant that you would never stop loving this speacial person ,even if the world was to end you would still continue to love this person.Well I was divorced from him in 1991 and I loved him still but the marriage had to end,and then he passed away in 2007 and it’s now 2023 and never have I ever quit loving him,we have two beautiful children together,and I was remarried in 1995 Andi still love him ,he was one of my best friends when he passed but this song always makes me think of this man I dearly love,bread was and is amazing

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  7. avatar Alice Stroud says:
    May 20, 2023 at 12:47 am

    Bread and the song if is indeed one of the happiest most comforting song I’ve ever heard and it touches my heart so deeply

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  8. avatar Jennifer DeGregory says:
    September 4, 2023 at 9:37 am

    This was my wedding song that my husband and I danced to on October 3, 1998. He left me years later for another woman and yet I want this song played at my funeral, as my love for him never died and ill love him to the end. 😥❤️

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  9. avatar STEPHANIE C HENDERSON-CLICHE says:
    September 9, 2024 at 8:52 am

    My BREAD experience was in 1974. Inside the Diamond Head Crater (great acoustics)! They were playing with The Beach Boys and America! I actually didn’t pay attention to the song meaning, 14 years old. But two years later, I was watching a Jerry Lewis telethon for muscular dystrophy and this girl a very young woman all her voice was angelic sang this song to Jerry Lewis and it broke me down. Being much older and knew exactly what this song was about about everything it was about life is about loving God it was about loving a partner that you lost your parent that was gone your best friend oh my gosh, this song holds so much meaning. Now 5o years later and it’s about my husband! Thank you David Gates, these words held me up!🔥

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