An Honest Mistake

"An Honest Mistake"
Single by The Bravery
from the album The Bravery
Released	28 February 2005
Format	7", CD, DVD
Recorded	2004
Genre	Post-punk revival, dance-punk, electronica
Length	3:39
Label	Polydor
Producer(s)	Sam Endicott
The Bravery singles chronology
"An Honest Mistake" (2005) "Fearless" (2005)

"An Honest Mistake" is the debut single by American alternative rock band The Bravery. The song is the lead track on the band's self-titled debut album, The Bravery. It was released in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2005 and charted as high as number 7 on the UK Singles Chart.

"An Honest Mistake" was also featured on the soundtrack of the video games 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 True Crime: New York City, in The O.C. season 2 finale "The Dearly Beloved" and in the CSI: NY season 2 episode "Youngblood". The song is playable on the UK version of the game SingStar Rocks!. It was also played in the Heroes episode "Orientation" in Season 4 and was featured in the 2011 film Detention.

Music video

The video for "An Honest Mistake" was directed by Michael "Mike" Palmieri (Foo Fighters, The Strokes) and 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.^[1]

Throughout the video, the only colors seen are red and yellow. While filming, the cameramen got in the way several times, causing dominoes to knock over when they shouldn't have and forcing them to redo the set all over again.

The Rube Goldberg machine follows a complex sequence of actions from the domino falling to the arrow shooting:

1. The band's tapping and bass causes a domino to fall
2. The domino causes a long line of dominos to fall
3. The line causes an intricate pattern of domino lines
4. The pattern of dominos causes a rectangle of dominos to fall, revealing an arrow pattern
5. The dominos merge into one line, which topples the lower line of dominos
6. The lower line activates a wheel and counterweight
7. A washer to slides up and knock down 6 higher rows of dominos
8. The second floor's domino starts a staircase of dominos
9. The staircase hits a stick on a pivot, starting another line of dominos toppling
10. The domino line hits another stick, hitting another line, and so forth until the top line
11. The top line of dominos hits a domino on a zip line
12. The zip line domino hits over two blocks of metal
13. The blocks fall onto the exposed wires of a Polaroid camera, completing the circuit
14. The camera takes a picture
15. The Polaroid rolls out of the camera, starting another line of dominos
16. The domino splits into a double helix, then re-converges into one line again
17. The last of a line of dominos falls off the table, into the center of a star of dominos
18. One of the spokes of the star leads to another line of dominos, which splits into three parallel lines
19. Two of the lines end, while one continues on
20. A line of dominos trips a mousetrap with a razor on it
21. The razor cuts a piece of twine
22. The cut twine releases a dangling anvil
23. The anvil hits a billow
24. The billow blows feathers off a scale
25. The other end of the scale tips, flipping a switch
26. The switch turns on a fan
27. The fan blows away a kite attached to a string
28. The string pulls on a hammer, releasing a wheel
29. The wheel goes down a trough, hitting a tire
30. The tire rolls down a ladder, then up a lever with a string attached to the end
31. The string releases a torpedo on a zip line
32. The torpedo stops suddenly just above the ground, releasing numerous ball bearings
33. One of the bearings rolls to a piece of wood where two wires come close, and completes the circuit
34. The circuit activates a Jacob's ladder
35. The Jacob's ladder lights a piece of tissue paper on fire
36. The tissue paper lights a fuse
37. The fuse lights a cannon
38. The cannon fires a ball
39. The ball hits a metal block on the edge of a fish tank (with fish in it)
40. The block knocks down a line of blocks
41. The last block in line falls on a lever connected to a pole
42. The pole pushes a lever on top of the fish tank
43. A weight slides off the lever
44. The weight pulls a rope through pulleys, which pull a miter saw down
45. The miter saw cuts into a rod, causing sparks
46. The sparks light a pile of gunpowder
47. The gunpowder lights a fuse
48. The fuse lights a rocket
49. The rocket pushes a dummy in a wheelchair through swinging doors and to a guillotine
50. The wheelchair falls over, pushing the dummy’s neck into the neck rest and activating the guillotine
51. The blade comes down, chopping off the dummy’s head
52. The head falls into a whicker basket on top of a lever
53. The lever lifts up a panel restricting a toy car’s movement
54. The RC electric motor toy car with a lit candle on it begins to drive
55. The car drives to a fuse running down a pole
56. The fuse lights a liquid on the pole on fire
57. The fire lights a ball and releases it
58. The ball unwinds and spins around
59. The lead singer sees the ball on fire out of the corner of his eye and moves out of the way
60. The ball hits a pile of gunpowder
61. The explosion severs a string
62. The string releases a lever with a boxing glove on one end and a counterweight on the other
63. The boxing glove hits a bowling ball
64. The bowling ball rolls down a smooth ramp, then a ramp of light bulbs
65. The bowling ball rolls across the floor, smashing a light bulb with a string tied to it
66. The smashed light bulb releases a spring with a razor on the end
67. The razor cuts a collection of ropes, causing skylights to crash to the ground
68. The bowling ball continues to a stack of milk bottles, knocking the lowest one
69. The topmost bottle tips into a trough
70. Milk pushes an egg out of a socket
71. The egg starts a line of dominos
72. The domino line climbs stairs and pushes the topmost domino, attached to a string
73. The domino swings down, hitting another line of dominos
74. The last domino falls onto a lever
75. The lever swings up, hitting a cam
76. The cam swings around, starting another line
77. The last in line pushes a weight, which falls into a bucket attached to a string
78. The bucket falls, pulling another bucket up
79. The bucket stops suddenly at the top, causing a line of dominos to fall over
80. The last in line falls off the edge into a bear trap
81. The trap closes, severing a rope
82. The rope releases a TV attached to another rope, which falls, crushing a toy dog
83. The TV lifts a box, activating a toy robot with string tied to its arm
84. The robot takes a few steps forward, then spins
85. The string tightens, activating the trigger of a crossbow
86. The crossbow fires
87. The arrow exits the crossbow, but misses right of the target

Track listings

• 7" 9880264

1. "An Honest Mistake"
2. "Hot Pursuit"

• CD 9880300

1. "An Honest Mistake"
2. "Hey Sunshiney Day"

• CD (AUS) 9881709

1. "An Honest Mistake"
2. "Hey Sunshiney Day"
3. "An Honest Mistake"

• DVD 9880301

1. "An Honest Mistake" (video)
2. "Unconditional" (video)
3. "Unconditional" (making of)

Charts

References