Accidents Will Happen

"Accidents Will Happen"
Single by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
from the album Armed Forces
B-side	"Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week"
Released	4 May 1979
Format	7" single
Recorded	1978
Genre	New Wave
Length	3:00
Label	Radar
Writer(s)	Elvis Costello
Producer	Nick Lowe
Elvis Costello and the Attractions singles chronology
"Oliver's Army" (1979) "Accidents Will Happen" (1979) "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" (1980)

"Accidents Will Happen" is a song by Elvis Costello. It first appeared on the 1979 album Armed Forces, which he recorded with The Attractions. In reference to the song title, the cover of the single was printed inside-out, and the run-out groove on side A reads "Proxy Prime Cuts Will Happen". The record had a double B-side, "Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week".

The accompanying music video, by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton, was one of the 35 videos selected for the Museum of Modern Art's prestigious "Golden Oldies Of Music Video" exhibition in 2003. ^[1]

In 2004, Entertainment Weekly voted it as one of Costello's top 10 greatest tunes.^[2]

Legacy

The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation, which is known for naming episodes after hit songs from the 1980s, named a controversial two part episode after this song in 2004.

Japanese singer Kyosuke Himuro covered this song.^[3]

In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott's brother, Michael, sings this song in the family kitchen after coming home from school.^[4]

References

v t e Elvis Costello The Imposters: Steve Nieve Pete Thomas Davey Faragher The Attractions: Steve Nieve Bruce Thomas Pete Thomas Studio albums My Aim Is True This Year's Model Armed Forces Get Happy!! Trust Almost Blue Imperial Bedroom Punch the Clock Goodbye Cruel World King of America Blood & Chocolate Spike Mighty Like a Rose Brutal Youth Kojak Variety All This Useless Beauty When I Was Cruel North The Delivery Man Momofuku Secret, Profane & Sugarcane National Ransom Live albums Live at the El Mocambo Deep Dead Blue with Bill Frisell Costello & Nieve My Flame Burns Blue with Metropole Orkest Live at Hollywood High Collaborations The Juliet Letters with The Brodsky Quartet Painted from Memory with Burt Bacharach For the Stars with Anne Sofie von Otter The River in Reverse with Allen Toussaint Singles "Less Than Zero" "Alison" "Red Shoes" "Watching the Detectives" "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" "Pump It Up" "Radio Radio" "Oliver's Army" "Accidents Will Happen" "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" "High Fidelity" "New Amsterdam" "Clubland" "From a Whisper to a Scream" "Watch Your Step" "A Good Year for the Roses" "Sweet Dreams" "I'm Your Toy" "You Little Fool" "Man Out of Time" "From Head to Toe" "Party Party" "Pills and Soap" (as The Imposter) "Everyday I Write the Book" "Let Them All Talk" "Peace in Our Time" (as The Imposter) "I Wanna Be Loved" / "Turning the Town Red" "The Only Flame in Town" "Green Shirt" "The People's Limousine" (as The Coward Brothers) "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" "Seven-Day Weekend" with Jimmy Cliff "Lovable" "Tokyo Storm Warning" "I Want You" "Blue Chair" "A Town Called Big Nothing" (as The MacManus Gang) "Veronica" "Baby Plays Around" "...This Town..." "The Other Side of Summer" "So Like Candy" "Jacksons, Monk & Rowe" with The Brodsky Quartet "Sulky Girl" "13 Steps Lead Down" "You Tripped at Every Step" "London's Brilliant Parade" "It's Time" "Little Atoms" "The Other End of the Telescope" "Distorted Angel" "All This Useless Beauty" "You Bowed Down" "Toledo" with Burt Bacharach "She" "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)" "45" "Still" "Monkey to Man" "She's Pulling Out the Pin" "Brilliant Mistake" "Who Are These People?" with Burt Bacharach "Bedlam" "Complicated Shadows" "My All Time Doll" Classical works Il Sogno performed by London Symphony Orchestra Scores G.B.H. with Richard Harvey Jake's Progress with Richard Harvey Collaborations Terror + Magnificence by John Harle The Sweetest Punch by Bill Frisell Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland Compilations Taking Liberties Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers The Best of Elvis Costello and The Attractions Out of Our Idiot Girls Girls Girls 2½ Years The Very Best of Elvis Costello and The Attractions 1977–86 Extreme Honey The Very Best of Elvis Costello Cruel Smile Singles, Volume 1 Singles, Volume 2 Singles, Volume 3 Rock and Roll Music The Best of Elvis Costello: The First Ten Years Related articles Discography Stiff Records / Nick Lowe Cait O'Riordan T-Bone Burnett Diana Krall

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