The Taste of Ink

When was spoke with The Used bassist Jeph Howard, he said: "I think 'The Taste of Ink' was originally written about our situation, like us being stuck in a little small town and wanting to play music and wanting to get out there and wanting to tour. It's really about being too broke to even leave our small town. It was kind of an interesting time and that's what the song is really about - trying to get out and move and to become something. That's what it is, but anybody can take it however they want. It can be about your family."

The "small town" Jeph refers to is Orem, Utah, which has a population close to 100,000. Orem does have a large Mormon population, and The Used didn't always fit in - lead singer Bert McCracken was raised Mormon, but it didn't take. Jeph was also raised Mormon, which is not a community known for Hardcore music.

This song originally appeared on a demo by The Used called Demos from the Basement. A re-recorded version of the song with slightly different lyrics in the chorus appear on their 2002 self-titled debut.

The video was directed by The Malloys, who have also shot videos for Vampire Weekend, Silversun Pickups, Kesha, Weezer, and Say Anything. The clip features a person biting down on a pen in frustration, meant to be a metaphor as the song is about The Used's early frustrations as an unknown band in a town where they felt constrained.