Songfacts®:

• Frontman Sully Erna told Billboard magazine, "There's just something really special about that song and it's the first time we've written a song that's just enough outside the box but somehow it still works in Godsmack. There's this great big melodic hook to it and it's a different approach than we've ever done before, bit it still maintains the power and integrity of the band and it's just really a unique piece."
  
  He added: "The last time I had a feeling like this about a song was 'I Stand Alone.'"
• Speaking with Terrie Carr of WDHA-FM 105.5 FM, Sully Erna explained how some of the more melodic approach of his solo material found its way onto this song. He said: "I think what's happening for me is that, over the years, I'm just trying to continue to learn how to grow as a songwriter. The older you get, and the more your life changes, and the more experiences you have, things just… they just change. And for me, I'm just interested in writing really big, hooky hit songs."
  
  "I've grown out of that phase where I was just trying to be the cool guy that wants to stay underground and be playing in the nightclubs and that kind of thing," Erna continued. "I like to write stuff that, for me, is something that appeals to me. And I've always grown up listening to the biggest of bands — bands like Metallica and Judas Priest and Aerosmith and Rush and Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin… even people like Tom Petty and The Eagles and these people that put out huge hits. Elton John, Ray Charles… I'm attracted to really great songwriters, and so I'm trying to continue to learn how to develop and grow into just being a great songwriter, and sometimes that evolution happens over time. And now it's getting to the point, for me, where I wanna write stuff that's more melodic and stuff that feels attractive to me."
  
  "'Something Different' is one of those songs that… it's probably my favorite song on the record, because it does have that commercial aspect to it and that real big hook in the chorus," he concluded, "but it didn't lose the power and the integrity that Godsmack has built our fan base on."