An Honest Mistake

Infobox Single
Name = An Honest Mistake


Artist = The Bravery
from Album = The Bravery
Released = 28 February 2005
Format = 7", CD, DVD
Recorded = 2004
Genre = Rock
Length = 3:39
Label = Polydor
Producer = Sam Endicott
This single = "An Honest Mistake" (2005)
Next single = "Fearless" (2005) |

"An Honest Mistake" was the debut single by New York City-based American indie/alternative rock band The Bravery. It is also the lead track on the band's self-titled debut album "The Bravery". It was released in the UK on February 28 2005 and charted as high as #7 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was also featured on the soundtrack of the video game "Burnout Revenge" (as a remix) and "MVP Baseball 2005"; in "MVP", the song is listed as "Honest Mistake". The song is also featured in the video game ', in "The O.C." season 2 finale "The Dearly Beloved" and in the ' season 2 episode "".

Music video

The video for "An Honest Mistake" features the band performing the song in the middle of a Rube Goldberg machine. The chain start with several strings of dominoes and includes many other objects, such as light bulbs, eggs, and an aquarium. Different parts of the action are shown from multiple views, often showing it one way, switching to another angle, then switching back to the original view. Eventually a flaming arrow shoots toward a target, but the arrow misses to the right.The song was apparently written in a direct response to a homosexual encounter, when one of the band members kissed a drunk friend and then fell out.

Throughout the video, the only colors seen are red and yellow.

The Rube Goldberg machine follows a complex sequence of actions from the domino falling to the arrow shooting:
#The band’s tapping and bass causes a domino to fall
#The domino causes a long line of dominos to fall
#The line causes an intricate pattern of domino lines
#The pattern of dominos causes a rectangle of dominos to fall, revealing an arrow pattern
#The dominos merge into one line, which topples the lower line of dominos
#The lower line activates a wheel and counterweight
#A washer to slides up and knock down 6 higher rows of dominos
#The second floor’s domino starts a staircase of dominos
#The staircase hits a stick on a pivot, starting another line of dominos toppling
#The domino line hits another stick, hitting another line, and so forth until the top line
#The top line of dominos hits a domino on a zip line
#The zip line domino hits over two blocks of metal
#The blocks fall onto the exposed wires of a Polaroid camera, completing the circuit
#The camera takes a picture
#The Polaroid rolls out of the camera, starting another line of dominos
#The domino splits into a double helix, then re-converges into one line again
#The last of a line of dominos falls off the table, into the center of a star of dominos
#One of the spokes of the star leads to another line of dominos, which splits into three parallel lines
#Two of the lines end, while one continues on
#A line of dominos trips a mousetrap with a razor on it
#The razor cuts a piece of twine
#The cut twine releases a dangling anvil
#The anvil hits a billow
#The billow blows feathers off a scale
#The other end of the scale tips, flipping a switch
#The switch turns on a fan
#The fan blows away a kite attached to a string
#The string pulls on a hammer, releasing a wheel
#The wheel goes down a trough, hitting a tire
#The tire rolls down a latter, then up a lever with a string attached to the end
#The string releases a torpedo on a zip line
#The torpedo stops suddenly just above the ground, releasing numerous ball bearings
#One of the bearings rolls to a piece of wood where two wires come close, and completes the circuit
#The circuit activates a Jacob’s ladder
#The Jacob’s ladder lights a piece of tissue paper on fire
#The tissue paper lights a fuse
#The fuse lights a cannon
#The cannon fires a ball
#The ball hits a metal block on the edge of a fish tank (with fish in it)
#The block knocks down a line of blocks
#The last block in line falls on a lever connected to a pole
#The pole pushes a lever on top of the fish tank
#A weight slides off the lever
#The weight pulls a rope through pulleys, which pull a miter saw down
#The miter saw cuts into a rod, causing sparks
#The sparks light a pile of gunpowder
#The gunpowder lights a fuse
#The fuse lights a rocket
#The rocket pushes a dummy in a wheelchair through swinging doors and to a guillotine
#The wheelchair falls over, pushing the dummy’s neck into the neck rest and activating the guillotine
#The blade comes down, chopping off the dummy’s head
#The head falls into a whicker basket on top of a lever
#The lever lifts up a panel restricting a toy car’s movement
#The RC electric motor toy car with a lit candle on it begins to drive
#The car drives to a fuse running down a pole
#The fuse lights a liquid on the pole on fire
#The fire lights a ball and releases it
#The ball unwinds and spins around
#The lead singer sees the ball on fire out of the corner of his eye and moves out of the way
#The ball hits a pile of gunpowder
#The explosion severs a string
#The string releases a lever with a boxing glove on one end and a counterweight on the other
#The boxing glove hits a bowling ball
#The bowling ball rolls down a smooth ramp, then a ramp of light bulbs
#The bowling ball rolls across the floor, smashing a light bulb with a string tied to it
#The smashed light bulb releases a spring with a razor on the end
#The razor cuts a collection of ropes, causing skylights to crash to the ground
#The bowling ball continues to a stack of milk bottles, knocking the lowest one
#The topmost bottle tips into a trough
#Milk pushes an egg out of a socket
#The egg starts a line of dominos
#The domino line climbs stairs and pushes the topmost domino, attached to a string
#The domino swings down, hitting another line of dominos
#The last domino falls onto a lever
#The lever swings up, hitting a cam
#The cam swings around, starting another line
#The last in line pushes a weight, which falls into a bucket attached to a string
#The bucket falls, pulling another bucket up
#The bucket stops suddenly at the top, causing a line of dominos to fall over
#The last in line falls off the edge into a bear trap
#The trap closes, severing a rope
#The rope releases a TV attached to another rope, which falls, crushing a toy dog
#The TV lifts a box, activating a toy robot with string tied to its arm
#The robot takes a few steps forward, then spins
#The string tightens, activating the trigger of a crossbow
#The crossbow fires
#The arrow exits the crossbow, but misses right of the target

Track listings

*7" 9880264
#"An Honest Mistake"
#"Hot Pursuit"
*CD 9880300
#"An Honest Mistake"
#"Hey Sunshiney Day"
*DVD 9880301
#"An Honest Mistake" (video)
#"Unconditional" (video)
#"Unconditional" (making of)

Official Remixes

* Acoustic Version
* Superdiscount Remix