"My Favorite Mistake" is the first single from Sheryl Crow's third album The Globe Sessions. The song was written about a relationship with a man who proves to be unfaithful and is widely believed to have been written about Eric Clapton. Released in 1998, the single peaked at number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100, becoming Crow's fifth top-20 single in the United States, while reaching number two in Canada and giving Crow her seventh top-five hit there. In the United Kingdom, it reached number nine, becoming her last top-10 single in Britain.
Writing and recording
The song was written by Crow and her regular collaborator Jeff Trott. The song is about a philandering ex-boyfriend, rumored to be Eric Clapton. Crow, however, has refused to say who the song was about, telling Billboard Magazine on the release of her album, "Oh, there will be just so much speculation, and because of that there's great safety and protection in the fact that people will be guessing so many different people and I'm the only person who will ever really know. I'm really private about who I've had relationships with, and I don't talk about them in the press. I don't even really talk about them with the people around me." Crow compared "My Favorite Mistake" to "You're So Vain" by Carly Simon. However, she later claimed that she doesn't look at her relationship with Clapton as a mistake and verified that the song was not about him. As further corroboration, Crow introduces Clapton as "a really good friend of mine" in her, later to be released as an album. The songs on The Globe Sessions including "My Favorite Mistake" were written in the first person as opposed the narrative songs featured on her first two albums. Crow was having so much difficulty with the honesty of the lyrics on the album that she was considering cancelling the release of the record in June 1998 and cancelled an appearance at Lilith Fairin the summer of that year. However, eventually the release of the album was deferred for six weeks while she recorded some new songs with a subsequent delay in the release of the leadoff single. The song was recorded at Globe Recording Studio in New York owned by Robert FitzSimons and Tracey Loggia. Despite the difficulties in recording the album, Crow told the BBC in 2005 that: "My favorite single is 'My Favorite Mistake'; it was a lot of fun to record and it's still a lot of fun to play."
Release and promotion
"My Favorite Mistake" was released in the US to rock, pop and adult alternative stations in the US on August 18. It was considered to be the obvious choice as the lead single from the album and was widely considered to be one of the best songs from it. A&M Records heavily promoted the single and The Globe Sessions. Samuel Bayer directed the video which was played heavily on both MTV and VH1. Crow was the artist of the month on VH1 for September 1998 with an episode of "Storytellers" being devoted to her. The single debuted at number 23 on the Billboard Hot 100 on December 5, 1998 and peaked at number 20, as well as reaching number two on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart and Canada's RPM Top Singles chart. Crow did not tour immediately on the release of the single or album with a US tour scheduled in February/March 1999. In fact, Crow took time off from promoting the single to tour Vietnam in September 1998 with Steve Earle to promote the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. "My Favorite Mistake" was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in the Grammy Awards of 1999 losing to Céline Dion for "My Heart Will Go On". Crow won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Album. The single was released as a two part set in the United Kingdom. The first part contained two previously unreleased b-sides. The second part contained the songs "Subway Ride" and "Crash & Burn". Though billed as "2 brand new tracks" by a sticker on the front of the release, both songs were actually album tracks from "The Globe Sessions". "Subway Ride" is contained on the album as a hidden track. It is also titled on the sticker as "Subway". Crow performed the song on her live album . A different live version appears on some formats of the "There Goes the Neighborhood" single. In 2007, a Grey's Anatomy episode was titled "My Favorite Mistake" after the song.
Music video
The music video features Crow in a room with spotlights, playing bass guitar and making all kinds of movements, wearing two identical clothings composed of a sleeveless top and leather pants, and each of a different colour, black and red. It was directed by Samuel Bayer.
