“Make It With You” by Bread

It has been put forth that “Make It With You” is actually akin to an overt sex song. Indeed it is said to be one of the first to be accepted by the music industry proper, at a time (i.e. the early 1970s) in which taboos against sexual innuendos in songs were first being lifted by the mainstream. 

That would apparently be how people felt about this track when it first came out, as it has been further ascertained that when David Gates gets to singing about ‘making it with’ the addressee, what he is actually referring to is the two of them bonking.

But the funny thing about that assessment is that, again, that must be something that listeners were privy to when this song was actually dropped, i.e. in relation to the lingo of that day or what have you. But as for the lyrics themselves, reading them here and now, there really isn’t anything even remotely sexual about them.

What it rather reads like is that the singer is trying to pick up the addressee in general, as in make her his girlfriend. And his game, if you will, doesn’t revolve around presenting himself as someone who’s good in the sack. To the contrary, the vocalist instead gets quite philosophical, rather trying to relate to the apple of his eye on some type of intellectual/ideological level.

And yes, we do know that some dudes out there will say all types of things to get in a girl’s pants, if you will. 

This was back circa the 1960s, where waxing poetic about “rainbows” or what have you was apparently en vogue. 

Conclusion

All in all, the entirety of “Make It with You” does read like an elaborate pickup line, so to speak. And whereas the implication of course is that if you want to get romantic with someone, sex is part of the equation, such is never explicitly stated in this piece. 

Therefore, we have to come to the conclusion that some 50 years ago, telling a lady you want to ‘make it with her’ would be along the lines of propositioning her for sex.

Bread

Bread was a band from Los Angeles that was around sporadically throughout the late 20^th century. It was during the group’s early goings, from the end of the 1960s into the 1970s, that they laid down most of their tracks, before first disbanding in 1973 due to fatigue and personal issues. And since then they have gotten back together a couple of times, though never for long durations.

During its heyday, around the time this track was released in June of 1970, Bread was held down by the following:

• vocalists/guitarists David Gates and Jimmy Griffin (1943-2005)
• bassist Robb Royer
• drummer Mike Butts (1944-2005) 

Gates, Griffin and Royer were co-founders of the band and also co-produced this track.

Gates, who also acts as the singer of “Make It With You”, is credited with writing the entire track on his own.

Success of “Make It With You”

You’re not likely to hear much about Bread these days, but they did drop quite a few hits during the 1970s. At the top of that list would be “Make It With You”, as it stands as their only track to reach number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. 

This song also marks the highest the song ever scored on the UK Singles Chart and Canada Top Singles, where it respectively peaked at numbers 5 and 2. Certification-wise, this track has also gone gold in the US and silver in the UK.

Release Date of “Make It With You”

“Make It With You” was originally featured on Bread’s album “On the Waters”, which was also put out in 1970 through Elektra Records.

Covers

Artists who are on record as having covered this song include:

• Aretha Franklin (1971)
• Earth, Wind & Fire (1972)
• Ben&Ben (2019)

Chart Performance

“Make It with You” was a hit in countries such as Australia, Canada and Ireland. It charted as a Top-10 hit in the following countries:

Sales Certifications

In the UK, this track currently has a Silver certification. There it has so far sold over 200,000 units. It attained Gold status in the US (where it has sold nothing less than a million units).

Media Feature

“Make It With You” was one of the songs featured in the 2014 action thriller movie, “3 Days to Kill”. It accompanied the scene where Zooey (Hailee Steinfeld) learns how to dance, with Ethan (Kevin Costner) being her teacher.

Notable Covers

“Make It with You” has been covered by countless artists. Below are some of the notable covers:

• Claudine Longet’s cover can be found on her “We’ve Only Just Begun” album released in 1971.
• The Supremes recorded their version in 1971. However, it was only formally released in 2002 as part of their “The ‘70s Anthology” album.
• Aretha Franklin also covered this track in 1971. It was part of “Aretha Live at Fillmore West”.
• Ralfi Pagan’s take on “Make It with You” was released in 1971.
• Cilla Black’s version appears on her sixth album, “Images”. The album was released in 1971.
• The Pasadenas’ upbeat version was released as a single from their 1992 album, “Yours Sincerely”.