Songfacts®:

• In "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)," Ashlee Simpson makes it clear that no one is allowed to live rent-free in her head. She wrote the song with the Ethiopian-American musician Kenna, and with Timbaland, who also produced it.
• Simpson explained on MTV News that this "leave me alone" song was not about her mother but about everyone in her life: "It's about too many voices, too many people having their own opinion. So it's not necessarily about my mom. I love my mom - there's no sides here - and my dad gets to hear me say all the sweetest things about him. It's mainly a fun, dancey song. I think it's got a little bit of an '80s feel to it, too - you'll hear that in it. But at the same time, it's Timbaland."
• The surreal video was directed by Alan Ferguson, who was also responsible for Fall Out Boy's "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race" video. Simpson's boyfriend (and later, ex-husband) Pete Wentz is the bassist and primary lyricist for that band.
  
  In People magazine Simpson explained the inspiration for the video: "I went to [Salvador] Dali's museum in Paris and was really inspired by the surrealism. I wanted to do an ambitious video [where] you basically go into another world and never know what's real. I am five different people in the video. The real me is in therapy and then it all turns into a painting. For me it's like an art piece. Its fun to do all of the crazy hair and make-up changes and different characters."
• Though this song didn't chart in the Hot 100, it was popular in the clubs. Simpson told SheKnows.com about seeing the song she'd created making people dance in the very forum she wanted people to hear it: "It was a great experience. I'm not a big club girl (laughs). It was funny to be in clubs every night. It was cool to see people react to it. I didn't know if these people would be into it or not. It was great to see the audience accept it and really like it."
• "Outta My Head" was the lead single from Ashlee Simpson's third album, Bittersweet World. By this time, she wasn't nearly as popular on MTV as she was for her debut in 2004, which sold over 3 million copies. And much of the music press had been hostile toward her since her lip-synching scandal on Saturday Night Live. The song was voted Worst Track of the Year at the 2008 Virgin Music Awards, and the Bittersweet World album didn't get much more attention. Simpson ended up retreating from the public eye after her tour for the album; she didn't perform regularly again until 2025 when she launched a residency in Las Vegas.