“Why can't we live together?” The same question 50 years after the day this song was released. The truth is that common people want to live together, but some minds have other thoughts which, unfortunately makes this song timeless.
Timmy Thomas recalled the story of the song to Spin; "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." [songfacts.com]
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