The Story and Meaning Behind “It’s a Mistake,” the Last Big Hit by Men at Work Before Their Original Lineup Imploded

Sudden success can be as traumatic as it is joyful. Men at Work knew this conundrum all too well. In a stunning stretch of two years, the band churned out four Top-10 singles, the last of which, “It’s a Mistake,” hit No. 6 in 1983.

But by the time the song was released, the band were already splintering, and the momentum that they had gathered quickly dissipated. Here is the story behind “It’s a Mistake,” the last blast of Men at Work’s all-too-brief halcyon period.

Carrying Cargo

Members of Men at Work first began to play together in their native Australia in 1978. By 1981, they were on top of the charts in their native country. A year later, the songs that scored so big Down Under, “Who Can It Be Now?” and “Down Under,” made their way to the United States and hit No. 1 there as well.

That was a bit of a surprising twist for Men at Work, and it threw their schedule into a bit of a tizzy. They had completed the recording of their follow-up record Cargo by 1982. But because their record company wanted to give their debut album Business as Usual time to grow in the States, the release was pushed back a year.

Lead singer Colin Hay lamented after the fact that they had rushed the making of Cargo, feeling it harmed the material, even though many others thought the second album outdid the first. The singles on Business as Usual sounded upbeat, even as they masked darker lyrical themes. On Cargo, the big hits featured music that was just as moody as Hay’s words. “It’s a Mistake” reflects that.

“Mistake” Prone

In the case of “It’s a Mistake,” Hay was commenting on the fears of nuclear war that were prevalent in the early ’80s when the Cold War was raging hotter than ever and the world’s superpowers were constantly beefing up their arsenals. The 1964 movie satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Sop Worrying and Love the Bomb influenced the song’s creation.

Featuring a stinging guitar solo by Ron Strykert, “It’s a Mistake” seemed at the time to be the continuation of the band’s ridiculous hot streak. In truth, by the time the song was released as a single in the U.S. in June 1983, the cracks were already starting to show.

Hay fired the rhythm section (John Rees and Jerry Speiser) over a dispute concerning management of the band. Strykert also decided that he no longer wanted to be in the group. When Men at Work returned in 1985 with Two Hearts, Hay and Greg Ham were the only remaining original members on board, and the album came up far short in quality compared to the first two.

The Meaning of “It’s a Mistake”

The title of “It’s a Mistake” holds two meanings. On the one hand, it reflects the notion in the song that an accidental nuclear strike isn’t out of the question. But it’s also Hay’s way of saying nuclear proliferation as a whole is folly. He writes it from the perspective of soldiers in the field preparing for a war of devastating proportions.

Jump down the shelters to get away, Hay begins, although it’s clear that there’s no entirely safe space in this scenario. Tell us, general, is it party time? the narrator asks, a sarcastic way of labeling such a catastrophic occurrence. Hay’s point is there’s no second-guessing such a momentous decision: Don’t try to say you’re sorry / Don’t say he drew his gun.

Is it on then, are we on the brink? / We wish you’d all throw in the towel, the narrator pleads. “It’s a Mistake” is a sneakily moving exploration of the human lives caught up in these war games. The song mentions a finest hour, and this song certainly came in the middle of Men at Work’s peak moment, fleeting through it may have been.

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