Songfacts®:

• Frontman Dez Fafara explained the song's meaning to Alternative Press: "'I.O.U. Nothing' is about being able to sleep well at night, knowing you owe no one anything in life except yourself and your family," he said. "It's like we're climbing towards the sun, falling over everything falling over every one, just kick the planets aside, come with me the universe will provide!"
  
  "To sum up the first line, it's is basically saying, in life go at it your hardest, step over obstacles, do your best - and if you do, the universe will give its rewards and do it without owning anyone anything!"
• The song's music video features two white-clad people facing each other, who by the end of the clip are covered in blood. Fafara explained, "The video is a director concept, featuring two opposing forces both telling each other they owe nothing to one another. But in the aftermath, both have the blood of the other on their hands, because we are all intertwined and seeking to owe nothing in the end."