“Beautiful Mistakes” by Maroon 5 (ft. Megan Thee Stallion)

Understanding the narrative which Maroon 5’s “Beautiful Mistakes” is based on is simple enough. Adam Levine takes on the role of someone who, in the past, apparently caused his girlfriend to dump him. And now in the aftermath of such he is in his feelings. Simply put, he misses her sorely. 

This is manifest in the way he thinks about her constantly, not only at nights but also during the day. Indeed he envisions a time when she will come back to him. Or perhaps more accurately we can say he fantasizes about such, as in being honest with himself he knows that she will not return.

Throughout it all, it can also be ascertained that he is a tad confused. For instance, while simultaneously being stuck on his ex, he also has his moments where he tries to forget about her completely. Such is obviously an emotional-defense mechanism, somewhat of a late acceptance of what had already transpired. Also considering what has already been noted, him trying to erase her from his memory is an act of vanity.

Megan Thee Stallion

Meanwhile Megan Thee Stallion is apparently taking on the role of said romantic interest. From the onset she lets him know perhaps the two things he wants to hear the least. The first is that he did in fact mess up. The second is that no, she’s never coming back. 

Apparently his big mistake(s) has something to do with lying to her. Also it seems that he tried to behave like he didn’t really need her, as mentioned earlier, however to her face. Well to the contrary, she’s the one who is actually more independent.  For instance post-breakup, she doesn’t even desire to be friends with him. Moreover while he’s suffering from heartbreak, she’s concurrently clubbin’ and chillin’. 

But with all of that being noted, she also leaves the door open for reconciliation. However with each f–k up – and it does read like he has a tendency to do counterproductive things on the regular – he is moving ever closer to permanent excommunication.

Chorus

That then brings us to the chorus and title of the song. On the surface, the title would allude to something like the male vocalist fantasizing about being with his ex. And whereas that may be part of it, all lyrics considered, an explanation that simple doesn’t make complete sense. 

Indeed in consideration of the primary sentiment being relayed by the singer, one of almost utter remorse, the phrase “beautiful mistakes” in and of itself doesn’t make a lot of sense.

Perhaps what he is saying holistically is that considering he has zero access to his sweetheart in the here and now, looking back even the “mistakes” he made while with her are “beautiful”. That is to say that his mistake-filled past is even preferable to his lonely present.

Or going more out on a limb, it can be hypothesized that in the present the lady who is “naked in (his) bed” is someone other than his ex. And he is rather making the “beautiful mistakes” with her. In other words, he knows in the back of his mind that they shouldn’t be together, since he is still in love with his ex.

Theory #2

Or yet another theory with is a bit more-stretchable than the first is that, as implied by Thee Stallion, he and his ex have a tendency to still hook up from time-to-time. And this is even though they’re no longer formally together. And as also implied by Megan, he has a habit of repeating the same errors. Thus the “beautiful mistakes” would be something like him messing the relationship up over and over again, with her by his side.

But all of that being noted, the bottom line is that the male vocalist is in the doghouse with the woman he loves.

Release of “Beautiful Mistakes”

This song, which was dropped on 3 March 2021, is the first collaboration between Maroon 5, a band from L.A. and Megan Thee Stallion, a rapper from Texas. And it was put out by Interscope Records.

The first time this track was teased was by Maroon 5 on the date of 23 February 2021, via their official Twitter account.

Writing of “Beautiful Mistakes”

One of the writers of this song is Blackbear (along with his regular musical collaborator, Andrew Goldstein). In fact what eventually became “Beautiful Mistakes” was originally supposed to be a collaboration between Maroon 5 and Blackbear. 

You may remember Blackbear as the artist behind “Hot Girl Bummer” (2019), a song which capitalized on the success of “Hot Girl Summer“, one of the biggest hits of 2019. In fact Blackbear’s decision to do so caused an uproar amongst fans of Thee Stallion, with some even accusing him of cultural appropriation. 

However, considering that the two musicians collaborated in making this song, apparently there is no ill feelings between the two of them personally.

In addition to Blackbear, Megan and Andrew Goldstein, the other co-writers of this song are Jacob Kasher, Joe Kirkland and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine. It is also Megan and Adam who hold down the vocal duties on this track. And according to Levine, they had a good time working together.