Why Can't We Live Together by Timmy Thomas entered the UK singles chart in February 1973 and a month later peaked at #12.
I don't think the song will have made much impression on two-year old me but, since rediscovering the original via Sade's cover version on her 1985 debut Diamond Life, it's now guaranteed to send a shiver down my spine ever time I hear it.
Is it minimalist music, just a swirling organ and programmed percussion, that moves me?
Is it Timmy's aching, yearning voice, the sound of a man who has made this plea so many times, yet has not given up hope for change.
Is it the courage to go 1 minute 33 seconds into a song that is only 3 minutes 45 seconds, before Timmy utters his first line?
Is it the song's simple yet powerful lyrical message which, after the horrifying yet perversely unsurprising outcome of the UK elections last week, are as relevant now as they were half a century ago?
It's all of these things, of course, which make this one of the greatest songs ever written. Much covered, never bettered.
Tell me why? Tell me why? Tell me why?
Hmm, why can't we live together?
Tell me why? Tell me why?
Hmm, why can't we live together?
Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we live together?
No more wars, no more wars, no more war
Hmm, just a little peace in this world
No more wars, no more war
All we want is some peace in this world
Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we live together?
Can't live, can't live
Can't live together
Can't live together
No matter, no matter what color
Hmm, you are still my brother
I said, "No matter, no matter what colour
Hmm, you are still my brother"
Everybody wants to live together
Why can't we live together?
The very minimalism of the song renders it timeless - there's no 1970s production values to date it. My mates and I were 13 when it was riding high and we loved it, though you've got me wondering now if I've ever knowingly heard another Timmy Thomas song!
ReplyDeleteIt was a long time before I did, TS!
DeleteHowever, I played the 1989 debut album by MC 900 Ft. Jesus & DJ Zero a lot. I found out later that one of the standout tracks, I'm Going Straight To Heaven, samples Timmy’s 1972 hit Funky Me.
Every day’s a school day!
Yep, that hit the spot
ReplyDeleteEvery single time, Adam, every single time.
DeleteYes, as you say and Adam too. Such a great song, I only wish the lyrics could be no longer relevant. I fear we're going backwards in so many respects.
ReplyDeleteMore like a cycle than a slide, C?
DeleteI don’t think this is quite what they meant in The Lion King as the circle of life!!