I was searching around for new/old songs to cover and I ran across this title…I knew it sounded familiar. When I heard it…it took me back. WMAK in Nashville played this a lot when I was a kid. It was like finding a favorite shirt (you know…the one filled with holes but feels perfect?) that you had thought was lost. I didn’t know the artist but now I do. A great soul record from a decade that I think produced some of the best.
Thomas was inspired to write the song after watching news coverage of the Vietnam War and the ongoing unrest in the United States at the time. This song was ahead of its time. it was recorded using only a Lowrey organ, a simple rhythm machine, and Thomas’s vocals.
Thomas grew up in Indiana and went to Lane College in Tennessee to study music. He started his career as a session musician for other artists as a keyboardist. This song was his debut and it was a huge success. The song has been covered 35 times by artists such as Steve Winwood, Santana, Maria Muldaur, John Oats, and Sade to name a few.
This song peaked at #3 on the Billboard 100, #6 in Canada, and #12 in the UK in 1972.
Timmy Thomas: “I had just moved to Miami. And I’ll never forget, I was sitting in the study, because I was getting ready to teach school, higher education… I was sitting in my study, and I heard Walter Cronkite. I’ll never forget this. He said, ‘35,000 Viet Cong died today, 15,000 Americans.’ I said ‘WHAT?! You mean that many mothers’ children died today? In a war that we can’t come to the table and sit down and talk about this, without so many families losing their loved ones?’ I said, ‘Why can’t we live together?'”
“Bing! That light went off. And I started writing it then. ‘No more wars, we want peace in this world, and no matter what color, you’re still my brother.’ And then after that, put it on this little tape, and went to WEBF, which was a local radio station. And they played local artists then… they played it, and the phones lit up. They said ‘Man, who is that?'”
“And I did it as a one-man band! That was my foot playing bass, that was my left-hand playing guitar… Could never believe that as a one-man band, something like that would’ve been played that much. But I do believe that the world was ready to start changing a little bit. And that song made the change.”
Here is Steve Winwood and Sanata covering the song.
Why Can’t We Live Together
Tell me why, tell me why, tell me why
Why can’t we live together
Tell me why, tell me why
Why can’t we live together
Everybody wants to live together
Why can’t we be together
No more war, no more war, no more war
Just a little peace
No more war, no more war
All we want is some peace in this world
Everybody wants to live together
Why can’t we be together
No matter, no matter what color
You are still my brother
I said no matter, no matter what color
You are still my brother
Everybody wants to live together
Why can’t we be together
Everybody wants to live
Everybody’s got to be together
Everybody wants to live
Everybody’s going to be together
Everybody’s got to be together
Everybody wants to be together
I said no matter, no matter what color
You’re still my brother
I said no matter, no matter what color
You’re still my brother
Everybody wants to live together
Why can’t we be together
Gotta live together
Together
…
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Awesome! 😎
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I timeless classic with a message that remains relevant this day more than ever. I also like Sade’s cover of the song. That rendition by Steve Winwood and Santana sounds pretty sweet as well. I love both of these artists!
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I hadn’t heard this song probably since then. It’s been a long time. It is a great message to this song.
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New to me, but a very enjoyable tune.
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Thanks Jim. I want to see how many remember this one. I didn’t know it charted so high.
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Oh ya’…classic ’73 tune…I was 9 & I remember that groove & the organ throughout that song. I also like Sade’s version from their (they were a group) 1st album in ’85.
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This is the one I was talking about…I’m glad you remember it. I probably haven’t heard it since the 70s.
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Wow! That song is etched indelibly into my memory…the groove & passion that he sang it. Checkout Sade’s version it was also pretty good.
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I will do that!
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A great song, I like the message and the music’s simplicity. I’ve read the whole album is like that though and that might get a bit tedious six or so songs in.
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Dave…so you remember this one? I was telling everyone that I probably haven’t heard it since the 1970s. It was very cool hearing it again.
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Oh I do, I actually wrote about it maybe 2 years back. Excellent message & a cool, minimalist sound…though I believe whole album was just him & that organ which I think might get a tad tiresome maybe 5 or 6 tracks in.
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Oh cool! With all we post…I forgot it…I can’t remember mine lol. Yea that would get old…just one song is fine…but like we have talked about lately…cool for a song or two…but on and on gets old
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I’ve always liked this song, especially Timmy Thomas’s version.
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It’s been a while since I heard it.
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I didn’t recognize anything until about five notes in! Haven’t heard this in ages! This is a great song but seems to have been overshadowed.
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Me either…probably since the 70s…
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Winwoods version inspired me to come back from my extended fishing trip and start doing live cuts. The Thomas version cant be beat but Winwood and Santana match the passion and vibe.
The story of the song is similar to Young writing ‘Ohio’
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It is a great version by Winwood…yea I can see why. I found this song and started to write about it… I checked your site out and you mentioned somewhere on how good it sounded after all of these years….good song.
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That bloody war had dragged on and on at that stage, and this song sums up the wishes and hope that was all but buried in the (literal) daily grind. It’s hard for people now to understand how divisive that war became over its course.
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Yea I can only imagine how bad that was. I was just old enough to remember the end of it all and couldn’t comprehend it.
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Why indeed. You know why. GREED, the green devil. Lust for power and control. It’s a fatal flaw in human genetics. All is not lost though, when songs like this come along.
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It has a great message! I haven’t heard it since the seventies.
Check your email Lisa
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Just responded back.
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Thomas’s version is about as lo-fi as you can get, but I think it brings a gravity and immediacy to it, considering the subject matter. Having said that, Carlos’s guitar and Winwood’s voice are great on their version. Organ too.
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You said it…it does bring an immediacy to it. It works very well with this structure.
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I remember the song well, but had forgotten who’d recorded it. Great song. I also like the Stevie Winwood/Santana cover.
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all-time classic for me, love it to bits, sometimes less is more, and sincerity tops showmanship. Most people in the UK think it’s a Sade track these days. I especially loved an unavailable 1990 remix that incorporated MLK Jnr speeches into the Soul II Soul styled shuffle remix, very powerful. I’m assuming copyright reasons have made it unavailable, though a lesser version without MLK is online. Happily I can still hear it as I bought the CD, even if the rest of the world can’t. Annoying though, it needs to be heard.
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