If a picture paints a thousand words,
Then why can't I paint you?
The words will never show the you I've come to know.
If a face could launch a thousand ships,
Then where am I to go?
There's no one home but you,
You're all that's left me too.
And when my love for life is running dry,
You come and pour yourself on me.
If a man could be two places at one time,
I'd be with you.
Tomorrow and today, beside you all the way.
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
On April 25, 1971, IF by BREAD went to #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart (Apr 25, 1971)
This shimmering, romantic acoustic ballad is one of Bread's trademark tunes and one of the most widely used songs at weddings and dances.
Drawn from Bread’s third album Manna, IF charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 6 in Canada. It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart, and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart.
Singer-songwriter David Gates said: "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."
Dolly Parton covered this on her 2002 bluegrass album, Halos & Horns. Her version was released as a single in Europe and peaked at #73 in the UK.
Kojak actor Telly Savalas recorded a spoken-word version that went to #1 in the UK in 1975.
