For the Ken Boothe album, see Everything I Own (album).

"Everything I Own"

Single by Bread

from the album Baby I'm-a Want You

B-side "I Don't Love You"

Released January 29, 1972

Recorded 1971

 Soft rock[1]
Genre
 easy listening[2]

 pop[3]

Length 3:07

Label Elektra

Songwriter(s) David Gates

Producer(s) David Gates

Bread singles chronology

"Baby I'm-a "Everything I "Diary"

Want You" Own" (1972)
(1971) (1972)
 Music video

"Everything I Own" on YouTube

"Everything I Own" is a song written by American singer-songwriter David Gates. It was originally
recorded by Gates's soft rock band Bread for their 1972 album Baby I'm-a Want You. The original
reached No. 5 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Billboard ranked it as the No. 52 song for 1972.
[4]
"Everything I Own" also reached No. 5 in Canada and No. 12 in Australia.
Jamaican artist Ken Boothe's reggae version of the song was No. 1 in the UK Singles chart in 1974.
A version by Boy George reached No. 1 in the charts in the UK, Canada, Ireland and Norway in
1987, Boy George's first hit and only UK No. 1 as a solo artist.
The song was also included in the soundtrack of the credits, which is played in full in the season
finale of 2011 miniseries This Is England '88 and in the 2023 film Beau Is Afraid where the music
plays in remembrance of Beau's Mother at her funeral near the end segment of the movie, listed as
one of her favourite songs.

Composition[edit]
Although initial listeners may have interpreted it as a song about a broken relationship, David
Gates revealed that it was written in memory of his father who died in 1963 before he achieved his
success with Bread.[5] According to the book 1000 UK No. 1 Hits by Jon Kutner and Spencer Leigh,
at his father's funeral, a friend took David Gates aside and said, "Your dad was so proud of what you
were doing." David agreed, "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." [6]
As for the title, Gates said that he once sent his mother an orchid for her birthday at a time when he
could barely afford it: "She was so touched – my dad wrote to tell me I could have had "anything she
owned" in return."[5] Typically Gates wrote the lyrics after the music. Although the lyrics were written
so it could be interpreted as a love song, Gates said: "When I played it for my wife, she knew right
away that it was about my father. She cried."[5]