Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)
Encyclopedia
"Outta My Head" is a song recorded by American recording artist Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Simpson
Ashlee Nicole Simpson is an American singer and actress. In 2004, she rose to prominence with the success of her number-one debut album Autobiography and the reality series, The Ashlee Simpson Show. In October 2005, following a North American concert tour and a film appearance, Simpson released...

. The song was written by Simpson, King Logan, Jerome Harmon
The Royal Court
The Royal Court is a music production crew created by producer King Logan King arrived on the scene in 2007 with the hit single "Ice Box" by Omarion , co-produced with Timbaland, which generated over 100,000 radio spins and fostered more than 15 remixes.-Omarion - 21:*"Ice Box" *"Beg For It" The...

, Santi White, Kenna
Kenna
Kenna Zemedkun, known professionally as simply Kenna, is an Ethiopian-born American musician. His track "Say Goodbye To Love" was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in the 2009 Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...

, and produced by Timbaland
Timbaland
Timothy Zachery Mosley , better known by his stage name Timbaland, is an American record producer, songwriter and rapper....

, Logan, and Harmon for Simpson's third studio album, Bittersweet World
Bittersweet World
Bittersweet World is the third studio album by American recording artist Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States on April 22, 2008. Simpson worked on the album with producers Timbaland, Chad Hugo, and Kenna. It has been described by Simpson as a "fun party album" with a "silly and...

.

The song officially premiered on AOL Music on November 30, and it was digitally released on December 11. Simpson's website announced on January 23, 2008 that an "Outta My Head" digital EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, including "Outta My Head" and two other songs, would be released on February 5.

Background and composition

The song was first mentioned in a September 2007 MTV News article describing a sneak peek of Simpson's album; the article gave its title as "Ay Ay Ay". Simpson's father Joe Simpson joked that the song was about her mother Tina, while Tina replied that the song was also about Joe; Simpson herself said that it was "not about my mom. I just have too many voices in my head, everyone having their own opinion."

On November 13, 2007, Simpson told MTV News at CosmoGIRL!
CosmoGIRL!
CosmoGirl was an American magazine based in New York City, published from 1999 until 2008. The teenage spin-off of Cosmopolitan magazine, it targeted teenage girls and featured fashion and celebrities. It was published ten times a year and reached approximately eight million readers before folding....

's Born to Lead Awards that the album was completed and that it would be released in March 2008, with its first single, "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)", to be released in January. She described "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" as a "fun, dancey song" with "a little bit of an '80s feel" and said that it was about all of the people in her life. She said that the video would be filmed in December. In December, speaking about the song, she referred to the need to "have your own creativity and place" away from others and how those other voices and opinions can lead to a feeling of frustration: "At the end of the day you're like 'Ahhh! Everybody stop!'".

Critical reception

Reviews of the single were mostly positive. In their review of the song, Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 noted that it was a "fun little romp, but ['Outta My Head'] may have difficulty returning Simpson to top 40 favor". Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

s Simon Vozick-Levinson noted that although the song's "beat [was] catchy enough...her vocals are sorta grating". In its Bittersweet World review, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

 said that the song "channels Missing Persons", while the Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...

 said in its album review that "Outta My Head" "has the same synth claps and skulking groove of Madonna's
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...

 "Burning Up
Burning Up
"Burning Up" is a song by American singer-songwriter Madonna from her self-titled debut album. It was released as the album's second single on March 9, 1983, in some countries as a AA side single with "Physical Attraction"...

" and a booming, Devo
Devo
Devo is an American band formed in 1973 consisting of members from Kent and Akron, Ohio. The classic line-up of the band includes two sets of brothers, the Mothersbaughs and the Casales . The band had a #14 Billboard chart hit in 1980 with the single "Whip It", and has maintained a cult...

-esque chorus." The New York Daily News, reviewing the album, said that "you won't be able to get a song like 'Outta My Head' outta yours". The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...

 was more critical, describing the song as "an attempt at '80s synth-pop that winds up cribbing its melody from Men at Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...

".

Chart performance

"Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" failed to impact radio in the U.S. upon its release. It has sold about 117,000 digital downloads as of mid-March 2008, and it reached number 21 on the Bubbling Under Billboard Hot 100 chart, failing to chart on the Billboard 100. Outta My Head (Ay ya ya) is the only single from Ashlee Simpson that didn't join in the Billboard Hot 100 On the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n ARIA Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

, "Outta My Head" debuted at number 30 and then rose to number sixteen in its second week in based solely on downloads. It then dropped to #22, then #31 in its fourth week only on downloads. In its fifth week it rose up to #22 and stayed in top thirty for over four weeks, due to its CD single release. The video was named as cable music station Channel V
Channel V
Channel [V] is the brand name for multiple international music television networks owned by STAR TV and Fox International Channels, fully owned subsidiaries of News Corporation.-Channel [V] International:...

's "Ripe Clip of The Week". "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" is Simpson's first single in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 since "Boyfriend
Boyfriend (song)
"Boyfriend" is a single by American singer Ashlee Simpson, the first from her 2005 album I Am Me . It has rock-guitar music produced by John Shanks, who collaborated with Simpson on her 2004 debut album Autobiography, and like all the songs on I Am Me, it was written by Simpson, Shanks and Kara...

" in early 2006. It was released to UK music channels on April 1, and received extensive airplay on most music channels, but received no Radio Airplay. It peaked at #1 on Box Breakers on The Box
The Box
The Box may refer to:In television:* The Box , a music video television formerly known as Video Jukebox Network, originally from Miami, but now only available in the UK and Ireland** The Box , a defunct U.S...

. On April 27, "Outta My Head" entered the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 at #34 on downloads alone; it then climbed to #24 in following weeks. So far "Outta My Head" has sold over 25,000 copies in the UK since April. Outta My Head was still in UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 over 2 months after its official release. "Outta My Head" entered the Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

 at #20 on downloads alone. It peaked at #15 after physical release, giving Ashlee her fourth Top 20 hit in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

Music video

Directed by Alan Ferguson, Simpson filmed the music video for the song over about 48 hours on December 6– 7. The desert scenes were filmed on the first day in Acton, California
Acton, California
Acton was founded in 1887 by gold miners who were working in the Red Rover Mine. It was named after Acton, Massachusetts by one of the miners. Two of the best-known gold mines located in Acton were the Red Rover mine and the Governors mine. Mining of gold, copper, and titanium ore continued into...

, while the indoor straitjacket scene was filmed on the second day in Burbank, California
Burbank, California
Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340....

. Kenna
Kenna
Kenna Zemedkun, known professionally as simply Kenna, is an Ethiopian-born American musician. His track "Say Goodbye To Love" was nominated for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in the 2009 Grammy Awards.-Personal life:...

, a co-writer of the song, played a reporter in the video. In an interview with Billboard, she described the video as having surrealist influences, mentioning Salvador Dali
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

 and Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich
Being John Malkovich is a 1999 American black comedy-fantasy film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Spike Jonze. It stars John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, and John Malkovich, who plays a fictional version of himself...

. Her boyfriend (now ex-husband) Pete Wentz described it as "probably the weirdest video I've seen of hers" and said that it, like the song, "has this kind of multiple personality". The video for the single premiered on December 19, and Simpson appeared on the December 20 episode of MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

's Total Request Live
Total Request Live
Total Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...

 for the video's premiere on the show. Simpson described the video as being "ambitious" and "like an art piece" and said that it involves going into "another world and never know[ing] what's real". The "Outta My Head" music video had been streamed over two million times as of March 2008. By early September, the video had been viewed more than five million times on YouTube. As of July 2009 the video has been streamed over six and a half million times, making the video her most watched video on the social network youtube.

The video begins with Simpson lying on a couch in therapy
Therapy
This is a list of types of therapy .* Adventure therapy* Animal-assisted therapy* Aquatic therapy* Aromatherapy* Art and dementia* Art therapy* Authentic Movement* Behavioral therapy* Bibliotherapy* Buteyko Method* Chemotherapy...

; her therapist, apparently based on Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...

, has fallen asleep. Soon the walls of the office melt away into a surreal desert landscape (including a Dalí
Salvador Dalí
Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech, Marquis de Púbol , commonly known as Salvador Dalí , was a prominent Spanish Catalan surrealist painter born in Figueres,Spain....

-esque melting clock), where another, dark-haired version of Simpson sits atop a floating Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube
Rubik's Cube is a 3-D mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Ernő Rubik.Originally called the "Magic Cube", the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toy Corp. in 1980 and won the German Game of the Year special award for Best Puzzle that...

 and the giant head of a statue in Simpson's likeness lies on the ground. There are also frequent flashes of Simpson on the couch in therapy again, this time in the desert rather than the office. Simpson is pursued by people but trips and falls to the ground. Afterwards she listens to a recording and begins singing along, but soon she is surrounded by interviewers, photographers (one of them having a camera for a head), and autograph-seekers, and she faints. When she awakes, she finds she has been tied up by tiny people
Lilliput and Blefuscu
Lilliput and Blefuscu are two fictional island nations that appear in the first part of the 1726 novel Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. The two islands are neighbors in the South Indian Ocean, separated by a channel eight hundred yards wide. Both are inhabited by tiny people who are about...

(a Reference to Gullivers Travels); when she breaks free, she again awakes, this time in a bedroom. The bedroom wall is rolled away to reveal a studio set where another version of Simpson is singing and dancing in a what seems to look like a dress by Gareth Pugh, similar to Kylie Minogue
Kylie Minogue
Kylie Ann Minogue, OBE - often known simply as Kylie - is an Australian singer, recording artist, songwriter, and actress. After beginning her career as a child actress on Australian television, she achieved recognition through her role in the television soap opera Neighbours, before commencing...

's video of "In My Arms
In My Arms
"In My Arms" is a popular song, recorded by Dick Haymes in 1943.The recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 18557. The B-side was "You Can't Be Wrong". The record first reached the Billboard magazine charts on July 22, 1943, and stayed 7 weeks on the chart, peaking at #7....

". As the real Simpson watches from her bed, where an interviewer appears and begins asking her questions, the robot Simpson eventually malfunctions and begins to explode, falling to the ground. Simpson tries to escape from this scene, fighting off interviewers and cameramen, but is captured by doctors from a mental institution and taken away in an ambulance. In her room, Simpson, now in a straitjacket, finds herself again surrounded by interviewers and cameramen; this time she bounces off the walls and spins around in the air as the video ends.

Formats and track listings

iTunes single
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (No Intro Version) - 3:30


iTunes single EP
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" - 3:37


Walmart CD Single/Australian CD Single/UK CD Single
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" - 3:37
  2. "L.O.V.E." (Missy Underground Mix) featuring Missy Elliott
    Missy Elliott
    Melissa Arnette "Missy" Elliott , is an American rapper, singer-songwriter, record producer, and actressA five-time Grammy Award winner, Elliott, with record sales of over seven million in the United States, is the only female rapper to have five albums certified platinum by the RIAA, including one...

     - 3:26


Australian Single
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" - 3:39
  2. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" [Dave Audé Remix] {Radio Edit} - 4:07


Digital EP

February 5, 2008
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" - 3:37
  2. "Rule Breaker" (from Bittersweet World
    Bittersweet World
    Bittersweet World is the third studio album by American recording artist Ashlee Simpson. It was released in the United States on April 22, 2008. Simpson worked on the album with producers Timbaland, Chad Hugo, and Kenna. It has been described by Simpson as a "fun party album" with a "silly and...

    ) - 3:21
  3. "Catch Me When I Fall" (from I Am Me
    I Am Me
    I Am Me is the second studio album by singer Ashlee Simpson. The first single from the album was "Boyfriend", and the second single was "L.O.V.E." I Am Me was released in the United States on October 18, 2005 and debuted at number one in sales. The album produced two top 25 hits on the Billboard...

    ) - 4:00


Promo
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Main) - 3:39
  2. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Instrumental) - 3:49
  3. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (A capella) - 3:45


Official Remixes
  1. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Dave Aude
    Dave Audé
    Dave Audé is a Grammy nominated producer, house DJ, and remixer. He has done production for musicians such as KoЯn, t.A.T.u., DJ Keoki, Barenaked Ladies, Faith No More, Cause and Effect, Hilary Duff, Wanessa, Ashley Tisdale, The Pussycat Dolls, Lady Gaga, Lunascape, Madonna, Britney Spears, CeCe...

     Club Mix) - 7:20
  2. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Dave Aude Club Dub) - 7:10
  3. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Dave Aude Instrumental) - 7:10
  4. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Dave Aude Radio Edit) - 4:06
  5. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Dave Aude Clean Radio Edit) - 4:06
  6. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Charles Feelgood Club Mix) - 6:02
  7. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Charles Feelgood Dub) - 5:02
  8. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (Jeremy Word Club Mix) - 6:49
  9. "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)" (DJ AM + Eli Escobar Remix) - 6:09

Charts

Chart (2008) Peak
position
Australian Singles Chart
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

16
Austrian Singles Chart 71
Canadian Hot 100
Canadian Hot 100
The Canadian Hot 100 is a music singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks songs in Canada. The chart debuted in the Billboard issue dated June 16, 2007 and was made available for the first time via their online services on June 7, 2007...

59
European Hot 100 Singles 37
German Singles Chart
Media Control Charts
The official music charts in Germany are gathered and published by the company Media Control GfK International on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindustrie...

30
Irish Singles Chart
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

15
UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

24
U.S. Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...

 Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...

21

Release history

Country Date Format
United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

December 11, 2007
Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

February 11, 2008
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

April 20, 2008 iTunes
Compact disc
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...

Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

May 16, 2008
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