“Why Can't We Live Together” by Timmy Thomas

Timmy Thomas wrote and recorded "Why Can't We Live Together" in 1972, and it became a hit the following year and the title track of his album. It also ranks among the first big hits to use a rhythm machine, which is why its lonely, ticking pulse still sounds so strange and so modern.

It began with a news report: after moving to Miami, Thomas heard Walter Cronkite on the radio giving the Vietnam War's death toll, and he started writing on the spot, asking why nobody could simply sit down and talk. He cut it as a one-man band, working the bass with his foot, and took the tape to WEBF, a local station that played hometown artists. They put it on, and the phones lit up.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.