About The Song
“We’ve Got Tonight” is Bob Seger’s late-night ballad of weary longing, released as the third single from Stranger in Town in October 1978. Framed by a gentle piano figure and Seger’s unvarnished vocal, it distilled his road-hardened sincerity into a soft-rock classic built for both car radios and arena sing-alongs. Issued by Capitol with “Ain’t Got No Money” on the B-side, it arrived on the heels of “Still the Same” and “Hollywood Nights,” rounding out a powerhouse run of singles from the album.
The song’s path was unusually winding. Seger first sketched it as “This Old House,” then re-wrote it overnight after a scene in The Sting (1973) stuck in his head—a late-hour exchange about loneliness that unlocked the lyric’s plainspoken urgency. Though recorded during the 1976 Night Moves sessions, Seger held it back until Stranger in Town, sensing the new album’s wider canvas could better carry such an intimate confession.
Musically, “We’ve Got Tonight” is a Muscle Shoals showcase. Seger cut it with the famed Rhythm Section—Barry Beckett (keys), Pete Carr (lead guitar), Jimmy Johnson (rhythm guitar), David Hood (bass), and Roger Hawkins (drums)—with Venetta Fields, Clydie King, and Sherlie Matthews layering luminous background parts. Jim Ed Norman’s string arrangement adds lift without lacquer, letting the vocal sit close and conversational while the band breathes around it.
Lyrically, the song stages a simple proposition: two tired souls, out of moves, choosing comfort over romance’s grand promises. There’s no elaborate metaphor—just a candid, grown-up negotiation at 2 a.m., equal parts tenderness and resignation. Seger’s phrasing keeps the sentiment grounded; lines land like thoughts said aloud rather than lines crafted for effect, which is precisely why the chorus feels inevitable when it arrives.
The single became a steady climber. In the U.S., it reached No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 29 on Adult Contemporary; in Canada it hit No. 9 and went Top-10 AC. Overseas, it charted in Australia and New Zealand and reached No. 41 in the UK in 1979. The album that carried it—Stranger in Town—had dropped months earlier, cementing Seger’s national breakout and setting up a further smash with “Old Time Rock & Roll” in 1979.
The song’s afterlife has been long and varied. A 1982 live take from Nine Tonight grazed the UK chart, and the original returned to Britain in 1995 (retitled “We’ve Got Tonight”) to reach the Top 30 again. Seger has often kept it in his set as a personal touchstone—reportedly a favorite of his late mother—while film and TV placements have introduced it to new listeners who recognize themselves in its late-hour candor.
And then there are the covers. The most famous is Kenny Rogers & Sheena Easton’s 1983 duet, which topped the U.S. country chart, hit No. 6 on the Hot 100, and reached No. 2 on Adult Contemporary, recasting Seger’s solitary plea as a two-voice conversation. That breadth of interpretation underscores why the original endures: it’s a sturdy melody and a human truth, delivered without pretense—just enough light to get you through the night.
Video
Lyric
I know it’s late, I know you’re weary
I know your plans don’t include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Longing for shelter from all that we see
Why should we worry, no one will care girl
Look at the stars so far away
We’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
We’ve got tonight babe
Why don’ you stay?Deep in my soul, I’ve been so lonely
All of my hopes, fading away
I’ve longed for love, like everyone else does
I know I’ll keep searching, even after today
So there it is girl, I’ve said it all now
And here we are babe, what do you say?
We’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
We’ve got tonight babe
Why don’t you stay?I know it’s late, I know you’re weary
I know your plans don’t include me
Still here we are, both of us lonely
Both of us lonelyWe’ve got tonight, who needs tomorrow?
Let’s make it last, let’s find a way
Turn out the light, come take my hand now
We’ve got tonight babe
Why don’t you stay?
Why don’t you stay?