John Oates Shares Soulful ‘Why Can’t We Live Together’ Cover

John Oates shared a cover of the 1972 hit “Why Can’t We Live Together.” The reworking of the song by late soul singer Timmy Thomas arrives as part of a series of music Oates has in the works.

In October 2022, Oates released a new single, “Pushin’ A Rock,” and also announced he would put out an LP’s worth of songs by releasing a new tune each month. John followed with “Disconnected” and now shares “Why Can’t We Live Together.”

Paste premiered the cover and Oates spoke with the outlet about why he chose “Why Can’t We Live Together” and more:

I loved that song from the very beginning. There was a starkness there. It was a very unusual song for its time, because it was just a drum machine, a Hammond organ and a voice. I know the backstory, with various A&R people saying, “Oh, it wasn’t finished. We need to add a guitar or strings”—bullshit A&R advice, by the way, by non-musicians, I’m sure. That song was perfect [at] communicating the starkness and desperation of those times while, at the same time, being completely timeless.

So we fast-forward to today. I don’t have to tell you about the news. Ukraine, the world, the American situation with protests during the Trump era—all that stuff started to unfold, and I thought of the song. I went and listened to it again, and I said, “This song is just as important now, if not more, than when it was written.” I haven’t done a lot of covers, but I just felt that the time was right for this one. I couldn’t write anything better, that’s for sure.

So I said, “Well, let me make it my own, in a way. I can’t just try to regurgitate the Timmy Thomas version. So I’ll just add the things that I do best.” Like background vocals in a kind of doo-wop harmony style. I actually did most of that song in GarageBand in my house, but when I took my home demo to the studio, the first thing the keyboard player said was, “Oh, we need the Hammond, right?” I said, “No, guys. We’re going in a different direction. We’re staying true to the meat and potatoes of the song, but let’s wipe the original out of your minds.”

Check out the lyric video for John Oates’ cover of “Why Can’t We Live Together” below: