"We've Got Tonite" is a song written by Bob Seger, from his 1978 album “Stranger in Town”.  The song served as the album's third single, reaching No. 13 on the US pop chart in 1978.  

The piano-based ballad tells a story of two lonely people who aren’t right for each other but will do for one night. Seger penned the song after watching the movie, “The Sting”, starring Robert Redford and Paul Newman. 

He saw a scene in the film where Redford puts the moves on a waitress, who says, “I don’t even know you.” Redford replies: “You know me. I’m the same as you. It’s two in the morning and I don’t know nobody.”

“That just hit me real hard,” Seger told during his 1994 interview with the Detroit Free Press. “The next day I wrote ‘We’ve Got Tonite,’ this song about two people who say ‘I’m tired. It’s late at night. I know you don’t really dig me, and I don’t really dig you, but this is all we’ve got, so let’s do it.’ The sexual revolution was still going strong then.”

"We've Got Tonite" was recorded during the 1976 sessions for Seger's album “Night Moves” and was held off that album as Seger felt it was not a thematic fit.  It was one of five “Stranger In Town”  tracks recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, with Venetta Fields, Clydie King, and Shirley Matthews provided the backing vocals.

Since the death of his mother Charlotte, Seger has made a point of always including "We've Got Tonite" in his live setlist, as it was her favorite of his compositions.

Various Sources