Photo stills
In your wallet with the unpaid bills
And you show it like it means something
You could never know the pain it brings

And here you are
Standing in our drive
(when absence suits you best)

Letters and your cards
With no return address
Now you come around
Now you come around
Your familiar sounds
We are your beautiful,
We are your beautiful mistake.

Waiting for this day
Well I memorized the things I'd say
How you broke her when you disappeared

How I hear her say,
"You'd make your father proud."

It echoes through the years
As if I could forget all a mother's tears
No, don't say a word
Leave while you still can
Put out your light

Now I guess you're going
A figure through the door
And your taillights faded
Like twenty years before


Lyrics submitted by oofus

Beautiful Mistake Lyrics as written by Kevin Griffin

Lyrics © Royalty Network

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Beautiful Mistake song meanings
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8 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I think this song is about someone who was forced to grow from a child into a man when his father left him (and his mother, and possibly other siblings). It details a confrontation between the man and his fatheb, who has returned and attempted to be a part of his life now. The man feels so much resentment, anger, and frustration about his father's selfish act that he feels it is too late and tells the fathep, "No don't say a word/Leave while you still can."

    emann333on June 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Kevin wrote this song as a story er whatever. It happened to a friend of his when he was growing up and he decided to write a song. He enjoyed doing that because he said, "It gives you a chance to see the world from a different point of view."

    sncrly_meon July 12, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    i downloaded this song by mistake.....its pretty good though. i can't stop singing it

    Tikitavi13on August 16, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This song is one of BTE's best. It's not as great as At the Stars, but it is far more emotional and hits the heart in compleltly different way. Kevin is a great lyricist, and this shows his talents with ease.

    Emo_ezraliteon August 20, 2002   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song is the story of my life.my father left exactly after our youngest brother was born.we grew up fatherless and motherless at some point, even.it may have been the hurt that makes you cautious towards dealing with other people.but it also is the same hurt that makes you stronger.a beautiful mistake indeed.

    on a side note,i am happy that better than ezra is not in the mainstream anymore because i can listen to then and i knew i may be the only one,or a part of a few listening to them.makes their music more intimate, as much as it is beautiful.

    thecolorsblueon September 30, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    exactly, it's about a father leaving the family... this song would've perfect in this one episode of grey's anatomy! but, ya, the singer struggles with knowing that the person standing him/her is his father at the same knowing that calling him father couldn't be further from the truth.. i love the lines: i hear her say, you'd make your father proud it echoes through the years as if i could forget all a mother's tears i love BTE songs because they're always explore the grey, the shade between this emotion and that emotion, n this seems exploring the shade between the NEED, the WANT to have that father figure in his life while at the same time, resenting that he was never there, and not being able to forgive to forget "all a mother's tears"..

    knid05on May 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    Memory

    I love this song. It makes me cry every time. I'm sure that a lot of people can relate to the song, the loss of a father figure, the loss of your childhood innocence due to it, and the animosity that builds up inside of you from it.

    Waiting for this day Well I memorized the things I'd say How you broke her when you disappeared How I hear her say,

    "You'd make your father proud." It echoes through the years As if I could forget all a mother's tears

    No, don't say a word Leave while you still can Put out your light

    That part of the song just gets me every time. Thinking of the confrontation scenario so many times in your mind that you practically have it all memorized but then "No, don't say a word" In my mind that's him saying that he never actually says all that he has been wanting to say in his head for so many years. Such a sad song but really beautiful. This entire album from BTE is great.

    sciolismon November 14, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    One of Kevin's "not me" stories where he discusses life from an alternative persons point of view.

    I think this ones pretty easy to interpret The father left. And the first person has to struggle with becoming an adult with the realization that they're the beautiful mistake left behind.

    JarrettCastilloon October 18, 2015   Link

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