We Just Disagree

The electric acoustic on this is a thing of beauty. I have this song. :) The lyrics are little off-he is trying to call a truce with someone he had a relationship with abit ago and they have re-emerge into his life...if enough time passes-who cares? Unless you still have a torch for them? He's saying how ya been? Then they were friends and now they disagree. On what? Which movie to see? Whose got a better car? To me it's that confusing!!

This seems to fit the rift between Dave Mason and Steve Winwood when they were in the band Traffic. That ended up with Mason having to leave the band.

This almost was my and my husband's song. We had a falling out (although it was not a case of infidelity) and we were living apart for almost a year.

We did reconcile and we've gotten things back on track, but for awhile there the stanza "There ain't no good guy/There ain't no bad guy/There's only you and me and we just disagree" really hit home.

Wrong lyrics: The first words should be "Been away...", not "Anyway..." Also, I think "since you've lost your feel..." should be "seems you've lost your feel...".

My interpretation is straight forward and literal: a remarkable song about an unremarkable breakup. No drama, they just disagreed.

Jeez, I can't believe no one has commented on this song. I was hoping some could provide me with the story behind this one.

Obviously, to the casual listener this song could be about two lovers that either 1) have grown a apart and have called it quits, but are at least trying to be friends 2) are complete opposites in so many ways but are trying to "agree to disagree" and just deal with each other by not sweating the small stuff and just be together.

However, I have a feeling this is more than just a "dysfunctional couple" song. I think it could be interpreted that way, but it could very well be two rival nations or even just two guys that come from different cultures that traditionally clash and may see the other as an enemy. They don't have to like each other, but they do have to coexist.

Just a theory I had. If anyone finds out the real meaning be sure and write it up on here.

This is my first comment on songmeanings.net, and I didn't notice that I could type it here. So let me just re-type what I wrote previously.

When I listen to it, I think of it as much more than simply just a "nice" song. And that's what makes this song so different. Jim Krueger, who wrote it, and Dave Mason, who sang it, doesn't feel the need for it to be just another "nice song." It's more than that, or less than that, depending on one's point of view. Everybody listens to music differently, I guess. Music is strictly subjective.

I've liked "We Just Disagree" by Dave Mason since I first heard it when I was just a teenager of 16. It's a good song with very simple and straight-to-the-point lyrics. It's realistic, with no sappiness. An adult kind of song with a mature kind of approach. It's probably the only song that I've ever heard that can say something that's sad in such a matter-of-fact, pragmatic, and rational way, with absolutely no histrionics. And sung so stoically by Mason that it would have made even history's most famous stoic, General George Washington, proud. "Been away. Haven't seen you in a while. How've you been? Have you changed your style? And do you think that we've grown up differently? It don't seem the same. Have you lost your feel for me? So let's leave it alone, 'cause we can't see eye to eye. There ain't no good guy, there ain't no bad guy. There's only you and me and we just disagree." Up until I was 16 and I first heard this song, I had never heard a song with a subject matter such as this that was written and presented in such a straightforward and rational, non-hysterical way. Albert Ellis, the controversial yet brilliant psychologist who invented REBT (Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy) would definitely have liked the song. If he happened to ever hear the song, he most probably did like it, as well as agreed with its direct, unemotional philosophy and common sense approach.

It could be about either about the breakup of a romantic or a platonic friendship. The song would make sense either way.

Many songs depend on bathetic lyrics. This song is the opposite of bathetic!!!! It's just a matter of "Hey, we don't get along anymore. It's obvious that we've grown apart. We're just irritating each other and we're not getting along and we're constantly getting on each other's nerves, and it's making us miserable and it just doesn't seem to be that we'll get back to the way things were. Let's just leave it alone; it's over, and we've tried. It's sad, but these things happen."

Simple and to the point.

I do agree with the comment by Thia007, that maybe they've been apart for a long time, and they've forgotten what it was that they liked about each other in the FIRST place.

Great song. Pretty straight forward. Two people who were once very close who've grown apart. No need to carry over any hurt, at least by the singer. He seems to have moved on, some good feelings remain, but they're apart. They'll always be friends to some degree in the singer's eyes, but whatever they had is done. There does seem to be implied a lack of moving forward and some bitterness reamining for whomever he is singing to. Not really an obscure meaning song, but where is it written one needs to be to be great? It isn't.

I don't know if he's moved on - the lines about "I'm goin' back" and "have you got a place" seem to reveal that he's willing to re-try, while knowing the shortcomings from before - and also knowing what may come to pass in the future - otherwise I love the simplicity and how heartfelt this stuff is

subjective interpretation: acceptance of self-contained divided loyalties, resolve personal internal arguments, stay open but stay guarded

This song reminds of a relationship from a long time ago.

I dated a beautiful girl over 28 years ago shortly after coming home from the Army. However, she came with some baggage in the form of a broken marriage, small child and a six year age difference. Nonetheless, I took her for all she brought to the table without reservation. We had few differences and but more in common to make those a problem.

Then came a significant career change for me. I thought she was on board with it as I was going through the rigorous hiring process during our relationship. When the offer came down, I accepted. Well, she did not agree with my decision and quickly let me go. She was standoffish, would not discuss her reasoning and in a cloud of depression. I had little time to grieve or really understand the break up as the first several months of the new job had me extremely occupied. With some futile attempts to reconcile, I eventually marched on with my life leaving it all unresolved.

Now for the parallel with this song... I would reunite with her briefly several years later in late '93. She was ecstatic to see me. Her fire was back. She was not seeing anybody, so we went out on a wonderful date to catch up. She was just as gorgeous as ever! It was all rather euphoric. I now had my chance to get some answers and lay my feelings from prior out into the open. I sat her down, and told that I had loved her, never wanted to leave her and still little understanding of what happened between us. She was apologetic, appeared a little regretful and said I had just got caught up in a tumultuous time in her life. However, she never addressed her issues with my career, though.

In the ensuing days, I found myself thinking about her. I felt myself wanting to be with her again. I would go to see her one last time. She seemed to have slipped back into the same state she was during the break up several years before. Again,I was perplexed. I quickly decided that this wasn't going to work based on our history.

So, I left it alone, because we couldn't see eye to eye.

Within a few weeks, I would meet another girl who would become my wife and I would never see this girl again. In the recent past, I found out that she passed away after a brief bout with a horrible disease nearly 10 years ago. The news saddened me and sometimes make me wonder why it all happened the way it did????