McCracken said "Buried Myself Alive" was "about a girl. It's about drugs. It's about loss. It's about being alive, about living". "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" was inspired in part by McCracken's past experiences with drugs. He said it was about "drugs and alcohol and loss and love ... and just being stoked that things are always going to get better or always gonna get worse and that's such a great thing". "Blue and Yellow" is about McCracken and Allman's friendship, as the latter explains: "When the band started to really pick up ... we were almost not being friends anymore because we were focusing so much time on the band and not on each other". Release The Used was released on June 25, 2002 through Reprise Records. During the summer, the group performed on the Warped Tour and Ozzfest touring festivals. Despite never having been released as a single, "A Box Full of Sharp Objects" received airplay starting in July, and a band-directed music video was in rotation at TV stations. In late August, a music video was filmed for "The Taste of Ink". In October and November, the band supported Box Car Racer on their headlining tour of the US. In early December, the band performed at KROQ-FM's Almost Acoustic Christmas festival. In January 2003, the band went on a headlining West Coast tour of the US with support from Taking Back Sunday, New Transit Direction and the Blood Brothers. "Buried Myself Alive" was released to radio on January 28. The following day, the band posted the music video to the song on their website. The video was directed by Ami & Kinkski, and features McCracken "play[ing] with fire while the band wreaks havoc", according to Kludge. The Used embarked on a headlining tour of the US East Coast in February 2003 with support from Finch, the Movielife and My Chemical Romance. This was followed by a co-headlining US with Finch, with support from Steel Train and From Autumn to Ashes. "The Taste of Ink" was released as a single on March 11. In March and April, the band went on tour with Coheed and Cambria. In April and May, the group went on tour with Thrice. Two of these shows formed part of MTV's Campus Invasion tour. "Blue and Yellow" was released to radio on May 19. From June to August, the group performed at Warped