Michael Nesmith wrote the song in 1964, when he was looking to start performing as a singer-songwriter. "Different Drum" tells of a pair of lovers, one of whom wants to settle down, while the other wants to retain a sense of freedom and independence. Its narrator is the lover who wants to remain free, telling the other that "we'll both live a lot longer" if they part ways now. Nesmith said: "The lyrics ... had nothing to do with my personal life – I was newly married with a pregnant wife." Nesmith used a short definition of "noun" - "person, place, or thing" - twice in the lyrics.