"Brilliant Mistake" is a song by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello that was first released on his 1986 album King of America.

Released on King of America as the opening track, the song has since seen positive reception from critics and has appeared on compilation albums.

[2] They had been discussing Costello's experiences in America; he later described the track as "about being deluded or imagining a life in exile".

[9][10] Salon dubbed it "a hugely ambitious song that eviscerates, in vertiginous order, the American way of life, romance and then the singer's personality itself".

[12] Jim Beviglia of American Songwriter named it Costello's 13th best song, saying "'Brilliant Mistake' may indeed be an affectionate send-up of the land of the free, but it's also a moving portrait of a man lost in translation".

[13] Dave Lifton of Ultimate Classic Rock ranked it as Costello's 8th best, while Martin Chilton of the Daily Telegraph named it his 17th best.

Costello said of the 2024 remake's new arrangement is "over a habanera rhythm in a minor key to mark the dark passing of the years and our elusive hold on hope, taking a detour into the 1933 Harry Warren/Al Dubin song 'Boulevard of Broken Dreams', rather than just alluding to it in the lyric of the last verse.