Synopsis

The video is built around a stylized performance by the band, intercut with close-ups and exaggerated behavior that give the song's resentment a comic, self-conscious edge. Travis Morrison performs directly to the camera while the group plays with a theatrical intensity rather than acting out a literal narrative. The visual approach mirrors the song's unstable emotional state, shifting between menace, melodrama, dark humor, and a final glimpse of vulnerability.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Time Bomb" appeared on The Dismemberment Plan's 2001 album *Change*, but it was not released as a conventional single.

• The music video was made in 2001 and later appeared on Microsoft's first Xbox Exhibition demo disc in 2002, which promoted upcoming Xbox titles while featuring music from independent artists.

• The video version uses an abridged edit of the song. It removes portions of the guitar intro, repeated material between verses, part of the bridge, and the outro.

• The song's arrangement includes an unexpected six-beat measure interrupting its regular four-beat pulse. The rhythmic disruption functions as a musical equivalent of the title's concealed threat.

• In a later track-by-track discussion, Travis Morrison described "Time Bomb" as a "good, evil, hard rock song" and said he thought it could have been a hit.

• Although the lyric is framed as a revenge fantasy, it ends by exposing the anger as a cry for help. That contrast is central to the song's lasting appeal.