Diary

Before blogs were invented, there was this thing called a diary. It was considered the precursor of blogs which I learned originally started as online personal diaries.

In my youth, people, particularly teenage girls, would have diaries where they write down many different secrets. Often, these secrets revolve around crushes, secret affections. and young innocent love.

I found her diary underneath a tree
And started reading about me
The words she’d written took me by surprise
You’d never read them in her eyes

A diary was considered sacred by girls as its contents were supposed to remain private. At times, though, someone gets hold of it, and all those well-kept secrets get exposed. The owner will naturally deny whatever has been revealed.

When she confronted with the writing there
Simply pretended not to care
I passed it off as just in keeping with
Her total disconcerting air

And though she tried to hide
The love that she denied
Wouldn’t you know it?
She wouldn’t show it

The problem gets complicated when a boy who knows the girl gets to learn about the diary. Reading its contents, he concludes that he’s the secret love the girl wrote about and the boy starts entertaining thoughts about being with the girl and sharing a beautiful love story with her.

And as I go through my life
I will give to her, my wife
All the sweet things, I can find

A diary’s content, however, can be interpreted in many different ways, but often, there is only one real truth. When it finally gets revealed, the effects can be painful, if not devastating.

I found her diary underneath a tree
And started reading about me
The words began to stick and tears to flow
Her meaning now was clear to see

The love she’d waited for
Was someone else, not me
Wouldn’t you know it?
She wouldn’t show it

In the end, a diary can provide us a glimpse of what awaits us in the future. Either we are a person who is destined to be lucky in love or someone fated to learn about life’s lessons the hard way.

And as I go through my life
I will wish for her, his wife
All the sweet things she can find
All the sweet things they can find

American soft rock band Bread performed and recorded “Diary” which was written by the group’s lead vocalist David Gates. The song was released in 1972 both as a single and as part of Bread’s Baby I’m-a Want You album.

Chart-wise, “Diary” placed at number 15 in Billboard’s Hot 100, staying in the charts for nearly three months. It also conquered the Easy Listening category, capturing the third spot.