Everything I Own Cover

This week’s “Remake of a Classic”, Bread’s beautiful “Everything I Own”, was originally written by David Gates in memory of his father, who passed away before his son's success...but always supported his desire to write and play music. In a 1994 video Gates said that writing the lyrics presented a challenge because he didn’t want the song to mean the same thing to everyone listening on the radio, so he came up with a romantic love song that has special meaning to him. That said, now that you know why the song was written, you might hear it in a different light. As for the title, Gates said that he once sent his mother an orchid for her birthday at a time when he was nearly broke. She was so touched by his kindness that his dad wrote to tell him that he could have had "anything she owned" in return.

The song originally appeared on Bread’s 1972 album, “Baby I'm-a Want You”. It reached No. 5 on the American Billboard Hot 100 and also reached No. 5 in Canada. This is another one of those tunes that’s been covered by a seemingly endless list of artists, including Andy Williams, Crystal Gayle, 'N Sync (dreadful), Boy George (even worse), Chrissie Hynde, Tesla, and Ken Boothe (a Reggae version…not my thing). As usual, nothing compares to the original. IMO, Bread is one of those bands whose music is ingrained in our culture…it’s a part of us. It’s like it’s always been there, which makes it timeless.

This was a really fun tune to cover….so expect more Bread in the future (it is, after all, the staple of life).