preceding a refrain that repeats the phrase "so sorry it's over." As the song begins, Tom DeLonge contributes melodic guitar lines while Barker energetically drums. According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Kobalt Music Publishing America, "Man Overboard" is written in common time with a fast tempo of 192 beats per minute. Set in the key of G major, it follows the chord progression of G–G5–A–C5 for the intro, a series of G–Em–C in the verses, and G5–E5–C5–G5 progression for the choruses. Hoppus and DeLonge's vocal parts span from F4 to G5. Stereogum contributor Pranav Trewn observes that the song lyrically presents a "conflicted account out of two unambiguous narratives." Throughout the song, Hoppus alludes to the loss of a friend to alcoholism, recalling their tendency to down "shots without a chaser," and decrying them as "out of line, and rarely sober." Trewn writes that Hoppus switches between "remorseful affection and cold bitterness" toward the song's subject, suggesting that while he commiserates with this friend, DeLonge is more outwardly disdainful. DeLonge's portions, serving as backup vocals, claim "there's so much more" the duo wanted from the subject. The song concludes with the understanding that Hoppus fails to miss this person's presence, demanding this friend "hand in [their] resignation." Music video The music video was directed by Marcos Siega. The band first met Siega coming up in the punk rock scene, and their similar ethos led them to hire him in the past for the music videos for "All the Small Things" and "What's My Age Again?". In the "Man Overboard" clip, the trio—sleeping in a tour van speeding overnight—each have nightmares that take place in their past music videos, in which persons of small stature play their parts. These shots are intercut with clips of the band performing live, filmed at the Belly-Up Tavern in Solana Beach, California. The band had previously utilized a cast of little people for its performance at the 2000 MTV Video Music Awards on September 7, 2000. The band was subsequently touring in Europe when Barker suggested they employ the same actors for their next video. Hoppus proposed it would be humorous if the actors replicate the band's "What's My Age Again?" music video, in which the three ran naked through the streets of Los Angeles. This was parlayed into a full-on parody of their past music videos, starring little people in the roles