If (Bread song)

"If"
Single by Bread
from the album Manna
B-side"Take Comfort"
ReleasedMarch 21, 1971 (1971-03-21)
GenreSoft rock
Length2:33
LabelElektra
Songwriter(s)David Gates
Producer(s)David Gates
Bread singles chronology
"Let Your Love Go"
(1971)
"If"
(1971)
"Mother Freedom"
(1971)

"If" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates in 1971. Originally popularized by his group Bread, "If" charted at No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 when released as a single in 1971 and No. 6 in Canada. It also spent three weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. Easy Listening chart,[1] and one week at the top of the Canadian AC chart.[2]

Record World said that the "gentle song by group's own David Gates (he produced and arranged also) will score in short order."[3]

In the U.S., Bread's tune was the shortest song title to become a top ten hit until 1993, when Prince hit No. 7 with "7", later matched by Britney Spears' No. 1 hit "3" in 2009. The song is distinguished by its opening line "If a picture paints a thousand words..."

  1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961–2001. Record Research. p. 39.
  2. ^ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved October 3, 2016.
  3. ^ "Picks of the Week" (PDF). Record World. March 13, 1971. p. 1. Retrieved April 22, 2023.