Music of the Day, 21 March 2024

why can't we?

Referencing the song that is today’s MotD has been trite for a while now, and it’s sure to become even more so as the US election approaches. The only reason I’m featuring it today is because it’s been a multiday earworm; I hope doing so will relieve me of its refrain at least a little. And I’ll try to avoid becoming too hackneyed along the way.

I grew up hearing most of War’s hits on my parents’ variety radio station, but I don’t recall being socially aware enough to understand a lot of their references. I do remember thinking the first stanza of “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” was a reference to an earlier hit with their former singer, Eric Burdon (“Spill the Wine”), although I don’t think I knew back then that he was no longer with the group.

The funky, slower groove of the song is what appealed to me the most; and in many ways, it still does. It’s cool that the video highlights each singer’s verse too. The spontaneous feel—starting with the flubbed note in the keyboard intro and continuing through the song with the background comments in each verse—also makes “Why Can’t We Be Friends?” distinctive. It feels like a spontaneous jam session that we’d all be welcome to.

The video solidifies the interpretation I finally landed on for the song’s meaning: despite large differences between groups, there’s a possibility of connection between individual group members. If you think that it’s impossible that a Black person could be friends with a KKK member, please allow me to introduce you to Daryl Davis.

Davis’ story highlights the stark contrast between the feel-good calls for understanding others and the very difficult work that’s often required. It’s easy to say that one group should reach out to the other, and very hard to do it: the us-them dichotomy is firmly in place at that level. Some connection between individuals is necessary first, to have a chance of breaking out of group-based stereotypes and prejudices.

“Why Can’t We Be Friends?” was a 1975 hit from the album of the same name. The song reached the fifth spot on the Cash Box Top 100, and sixth on Billboard’s Hot 100. Somewhere along the way, I acquired War’s 1977 compilation, The Best of War and More. I wasn’t familiar with all its songs on my first listen, but I adore them all now. Based on that, I’ve added War to my list of musicians to explore in more depth. It’s ridiculous that this talented band isn’t in the rock & roll hall of fame.