Yes I'm a Mess

AJR began writing a concept for an "old western/hip hop" song, titling it "So What" and creating a demo on March 27, 2020. It was intended to be released on OK Orchestra, but was met with negative reactions from friends and family. The band wrote five more iterations before settling on "Yes I'm a Mess", with the lyrical idea of "throwing out your life, moving to another city, [and] just tak[ing] it from scratch".^[1]

The song first teased on YouTube on August 9, 2023, featuring an instrumental clip of the song with the band in Pula.^[2] More teasers were published on August 13, August 22, September 12, September 16, and September 22 before its release date was announced on September 25, 2023. "Yes I'm a Mess" was teased again on September 26 before releasing on September 29, 2023.^[3] In relation to the song being the last single of The Maybe Man before release,^[4] the band stated "we put absolutely everything we had into this album, visuals, and tour. Down to every little detail. Get ready to immerse yourself in this world".^[5][6]

"Yes I'm a Mess" is composed in ⁴
₄ time signature in the key of D minor and primarily follows a tempo of 92 beats per minute (BPM).^[7]

A music video for "Yes I'm a Mess" was released on October 25, 2023, and was directed by Adam Met, Jack Met, Ryan Met, Austin Roa, Libby Sears, Pranav Arora, Cat Capps, Alba Avoricani, and Rob Piccione. The band claimed they spent three weeks attempting to produce a high-budget video that they found unsatisfactory, so they quickly filmed a low-budget video that they liked more. The video features Jack in Times Square dressed up as Elmo; later in the video, he ends up being chased by the NYPD due to a lack of permit.^[8]

AJR

• Adam Met – instruments, composer
• Jack Met – lead vocals, instruments, composer
• Ryan Met – instruments, composer, producer, programming

Additional personnel