"Accidents Will Happen" is a song by Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello

Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...

. 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. The record had a double B-side, "Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week".

The accompanying music video, by Annabel Jankel

Annabel Jankel

Annabel Jankel is an award-winning British film and TV director who first came to prominence as a music video director and the co-creator and director of the pioneering cyber-character Max Headroom...

 and Rocky Morton

Rocky Morton

Rocky Morton is a British director. He was one of the co-creators of Max Headroom and co-director on Super Mario Bros.. Various music videos by Rush, Tom Tom Club, Talking Heads, Led Zeppelin, Orgy and Miles Davis are credited to Morton. He also directed the 1995 UK launch commercial of Sega...

, was one of the 35 videos selected for the Museum of Modern Art

Museum of Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art is an art museum in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, on 53rd Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It has been important in developing and collecting modernist art, and is often identified as the most influential museum of modern art in the world...

's prestigious "Golden Oldies Of Music Video" exhibition in 2003.

In 2004, Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly

Entertainment Weekly is an American magazine, published by the Time division of Time Warner, that covers film, television, music, broadway theatre, books and popular culture...

voted it as one of Costello's top 10 greatest tunes.

Legacy

The popular Canadian teen drama Degrassi: The Next Generation

Degrassi: The Next Generation

Degrassi: The Next Generation is a Canadian teen drama television series set in the Degrassi universe, which was created by Linda Schuyler and Kit Hood in 1979. Degrassi is the fourth fictional series in the Degrassi franchise, and follows The Kids of Degrassi Street, Degrassi Junior High, and...

, which is known for naming episodes after hit songs from the 1980s, named a controversial two part episode

Accidents Will Happen (Degrassi: The Next Generation)

"Accidents Will Happen" is a two part episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation that aired in the middle of season 3. The first part aired originally on 26 January 2004, and the second part originally aired on 9 February 2004. Due to the content discussed in this episode, it was not aired in the...

 after this song in 2004.

Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

ese singer Kyosuke Himuro

Kyosuke Himuro

is a popular Japanese singer. He was a member of the rock group Boøwy from 1981 to 1988. After the group disbanded he started a successful solo career. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked Himuro at number 76 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts...

 covered this song.

In E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial

E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is a 1982 American science fiction film co-produced and directed by Steven Spielberg, written by Melissa Mathison and starring Henry Thomas, Dee Wallace, Robert MacNaughton, Drew Barrymore, and Peter Coyote...

, Elliott's brother, Michael, sings this song in the family kitchen after coming home from school.