"Accidents Will Happen" is a song written by Elvis Costello and performed by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It first appeared on the 1979 album Armed Forces. Costello wrote the song about his many infidelities during this period of his life, including an encounter Costello had with a taxi driver in Tucson, Arizona. The song originally featured a piano-centered arrangement and was inspired by songs such as "Anyone Who Had a Heart" and "Walk Away Renée".
Cover of U.K. sleeve (printed on the inside rather than outside as a reference to the song)
Armed Forces is the third studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5 January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions—keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas and drummer Pete Thomas —and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 in London under the working title Emotional Fascism. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to This Year's Model, while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements.
UK release
US release
Armed Forces was the third of five consecutively produced Costello albums by musician Nick Lowe (pictured in 2017).
Costello onstage in April 1978
