Composition
The title track, which was also the theme song to The Ashlee Simpson Show, opens the album by introducing Simpson, who sings "got stains on my t-shirt, and I'm the biggest flirt" and "if you want my auto, want my autobiography / baby, just ask me". The Village Voice review described the song as "wrist-pumping Joan Jett rock candy", but Stylus labelled the track "an age-old trope and a boring one at that". "Pieces of Me", a song about the comfort and happiness Simpson found in her relationship with Ryan Cabrera, has been characterised as a soft rock ballad with "stringy guitar riffs". "Shadow", described by People magazine as the "most personal song" on the album, is a slower tune in which Simpson recounts playing a lesser role to her sister when she was younger, but eventually finding her own identity.
The album continues with "La La", a song with sexual lyrics that Simpson has described as "tongue-in-cheek". One reviewer described "La La" as a "punk inspired, fast beat, screaming anthem". "Love Makes the World Go Round", which epinions.com described as having a "Duff vibe", talks about the disappointment of an ending relationship. "Better Off", which has been described as a "bubbly" song and as a "chunk of pop/rock goodness", and "Love Me For Me", which has been called "Joan-Jett-esque" and which Simpson has said is about "self-appreciation" both deal with contradictory feelings about relationships. The synth-driven "Surrender" follows with Simpson consenting to a breakup, with lyrics such as "you make your misery my company"; epinions wrote that it is on this track that Simpson sounds "most loose and carefree".
"Unreachable" combines a piano line and vintage Chamberlin sounds with lyrics dealing with regrets about rushing into a relationship. Simpson has described "Nothing New" as being about her frustration with an ex-boyfriend's "dramas", until she is ultimately "finished with him", while "Giving It All Away" encourages the listener to stand on one's own feet: "hold on to your life and don't give that away", Simpson said of the song. The album's closing track, "Undiscovered" (which Simpson has described as a favorite of hers), was written after her breakup with Josh, and is described by epinions.com as a song with "haunting strings" and "mellow guitars"; in the song, Simpson ponders what might have been in a lost pairing. Non-U.S. pressings follow with "Harder Everyday", and the United Kingdom edition adds "Sorry". The U.S. Wal-Mart edition of the album also included an access code to download a reduced-quality version of "Sorry" over the Internet.
Read more about this topic: Autobiography (Ashlee Simpson album)
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