"Can We Still Be Friends" is a song written and originally performed by

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, multimedia artist, sound engineer and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the band Ut ...

Todd Rundgren version

Todd Rundgren released his version on his 1978 album ''

Hermit of Mink Hollow ''Hermit of Mink Hollow'' is the eighth album by American musician Todd Rundgren, released May 1978 on Bearsville Records. All of the instruments and vocals were performed solely by Rundgren. He intended the songs on the album to be performed on p ...

''. This was the only hit single on the album, reaching #29 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and also peaking at #8 in Australia. The lyrics describe a relationship to which Rundgren and the woman to whom he is singing have given great effort to fix the relationship, but simply cannot work. Rundgren explains this, but wishes to part amicably, asking several times if he and his partner can "still be friends." The song is generally assumed to be about Rundgren's breakup with long-time companion

Bebe Buell Beverle Lorence "Bebe" Buell (born July 14, 1953) is an American singer and model. She was ''Playboy'' magazine's November 1974 Playmate of the Month. Buell moved to New York in 1972 after signing a modeling contract with Eileen Ford, and garnere ...

in 1977. Rundgren played all the instruments and performed all the vocals on the track, as he did with the rest of the album. In 1994, the song made a prominent appearance in the film ''

Dumb and Dumber ''Dumb and Dumber'' is a 1994 American buddy comedy film directed by Peter Farrelly, who cowrote the screenplay with Bobby Farrelly and Bennett Yellin. It is the first installment in the ''Dumb and Dumber'' franchise. Starring Jim Carrey and ...

'', for which Rundgren had composed the score. It also appears on the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

for the 2001 film ''

Vanilla Sky ''Vanilla Sky'' is a 2001 American science fiction thriller film directed, written, and co-produced by Cameron Crowe. It is an English-language remake of Alejandro Amenábar's 1997 Spanish film '' Open Your Eyes'', which was written by Amenábar ...

'', and the TV series ''

Nip/Tuck ''Nip/Tuck'' is an American medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010. The series, which also incorporates elements of crime drama, black comedy, family dra ...

''.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Robert Palmer version

In 1979, "Can We Still Be Friends" became a hit again when Robert Palmer recorded a version for his album ''

Secrets Secrecy is the practice of hiding information from certain individuals or groups who do not have the "need to know", perhaps while sharing it with other individuals. That which is kept hidden is known as the secret. Secrecy is often controvers ...

''.

Chart performance

Mandy Moore version

In 2003,

Mandy Moore Amanda Leigh Moore (born April 10, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. She rose to fame with her debut single, "Candy", which peaked at number 41 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Her debut studio album, '' So Real'' (1999), recei ...

recorded her own version of the song from her third studio album ''

Coverage Coverage may refer to: Filmmaking * Coverage (lens), the size of the image a lens can produce * Camera coverage, the amount of footage shot and different camera setups used in filming a scene * Script coverage, a short summary of a script, wri ...

'', composed entirely of cover songs.

Other versions

Colin Blunstone Colin Edward Michael Blunstone (born 24 June 1945) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. In a career spanning more than 60 years, Blunstone came to prominence in the mid-1960s as the lead singer of the English rock band the Zombies, whi ...

recorded a version on his 1979 album "Late Nights in Soho". *

Rod Stewart Sir Roderick David Stewart (born 10 January 1945) is a British rock and pop singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart is among the best-selling ...

recorded the song as a track for his 1984 album ''

Camouflage Camouflage is the use of any combination of materials, coloration, or illumination for concealment, either by making animals or objects hard to see, or by disguising them as something else. Examples include the leopard's spotted coat, the ...

''. His version is performed at a faster

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

than Rundgren's and Palmer's versions and features more prominent use of the

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

. *

Marc Jordan Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system of ...

recorded the song as a track for his 1990 album ''

COW Cattle (''Bos taurus'') are large, domesticated, cloven-hooved, herbivores. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae and the most widespread species of the genus ''Bos''. Adult females are referred to as cows and adult ma ...

'' *In 2001,

Vonda Shepard Vonda Shepard (born July 7, 1963) is an American singer, songwriter, music director and actress. She appeared as a regular in the television show '' Ally McBeal'', as a resident performer in the bar where the show's characters drank, danced and c ...

's version appeared on a

for the television show Ally McBeal; this is very first revived song of Shepard. *

Kate Markowitz Catherine Judith "Kate" Markowitz (Born 28 April 1956) is an American singer-songwriter known as a backup singer who has recorded and performed with a number of singers, most notably James Taylor but also Willy DeVille, Shawn Colvin, Mylène Farm ...

recorded it for her 2003 album ''Map of the World''. *

Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, s ...

rock musicians

Charly García Charly García (born Carlos Alberto García, October 23, 1951) is an Argentine singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. He formed and headlined two of the most popular bands in Argentina's rock history: Sui Generis in the 1970s and Se ...

and

Nito Mestre Carlos Alberto Mestre (born August 3, 1952 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) mostly known by his stage name Nito Mestre, is an Argentine musician, founding member –along with Charly García– of Sui Generis, member of PorSuiGieco, bandleader of Nito ...

, founding members of the band ''

Sui Generis ''Sui generis'' ( , ) is a Latin phrase that means "of its/their own kind", "in a class by itself", therefore "unique". A number of disciplines use the term to refer to unique entities. These include: * Biology, for species that do not fit in ...

'', recorded a Spanish version entitled "Yo soy su papá" ("I am his father"), which appeared on their 2000 album ''Sinfonías para adolescentes'' (''Symphonies for Teenagers''). *Filipino singer, actress and TV host

Toni Gonzaga Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (; born January 20, 1984), better known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino singer, host, actress, producer, vlogger and entrepreneur. She is the former lead host of long-running reality show, ''Pinoy Big Brother''. To ...

covered the song as part of the soundtrack of the 2017 film of the same name starring

Gerald Anderson Gerald Randolph Opsima Anderson Jr. (born March 7, 1989) is a Filipino-American actor. He is managed and under contract to Star Magic, ABS-CBN Corporation, ABS-CBN's home based talent agency. Recognized as the "Action-Drama Prince" of Philippi ...

and

Arci Muñoz Ramona Cecilia Datuin Muñoz (born 12 January 1989), professionally known as Arci Muñoz (), is a Filipino actress, model, singer and dancer. She is the vocalist of the Filipino rock band Philia and currently serving in the Philippine Air Force ...

References

{{authority control 1970s ballads Todd Rundgren songs Robert Palmer (singer) songs Rod Stewart songs 1978 singles 1979 singles Songs written by Todd Rundgren Song recordings produced by Todd Rundgren 1978 songs Rock ballads Bearsville Records singles Island Records singles Mandy Moore songs Songs about friendship