Songfacts®:

• This Mario Winans produced ballad is the second single from R&B singer-songwriter Trey Songz's fourth studio album, Passion, Pain & Pleasure. The song finds Songz longing for a lost love.
• The song samples Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto's "Bibo no Aozora" from the 2006 international film Babel.
• Songz told MTV News this song about platonic friends crossing the line shows his more mature side. He explained: "There comes a point in an artist's career where, after you've reached a certain level of success, people are looking for you to bring them the real, bring them something to just connect with. 'Can't Be Friends' is a record that I feel everyone can relate to at some point or another ... it's going back to classic Trey."
• The song was the follow up to Songz's hit single "Bottoms Up." He told MTV News the selection was deliberate: " 'Bottoms Up,' of course, was the obvious record to catch your attention; obvious smash club record. But with a record like 'Can't Be Friends,' it's a record where I'm trying to, you know, touch your heart," he said. "I want your emotions to be evoked as you listen to this record."
• The song details real events in Songz' life, though he embellished the narrative. He told The Boombox: "'Can't Be Friends' is an experience that I've been through, not per se to every specification of the lyric, but I find a way to make it appeal."