Men At Work – It’s A Mistake

The song was written by Men at Work singer/guitarist Colin Hay and the recording was produced by Peter McIan. The song is taken from their 1983 album Cargo, and peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August 1983.
The song’s lyrics deal with the mindset of military men across the world in the 1980s, wondering if and when the democratic countries of NATO and the Warsaw Pact communist states will end the Cold War standoff with conventional battle or a nuclear exchange. Hay sings in the persona of a mid-level officer wishing to learn from his superiors if his men are going to war or not.
The video, which had moderate rotation on MTV (as opposed to the band’s singles from their Business as Usual album), was mostly set in an underground bunker or “War Room” similar to the NORAD facility of Cheyenne Mountain, and the band seemed to engage in a semi-retelling of the 1964 black comedy Dr. Strangelove. At the end of the video, the officer is smoking as he removes the protective cover from the nuclear button, which is right next to his ashtray. Then, when he goes to stub out his cigarette in the ashtray, he accidentally hits the button instead.