battles—and even our own forms of folly.
Released in August 1982 as the second single from the album Listen to the Radio, this track proved to be another successful, comforting voice on the charts. It was a substantial hit, climbing to a respectable Number 3 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart in the United States and matching that success by also reaching Number 3 on the RPM Country Tracks chart in Canada. Its popularity affirmed that listeners, particularly the mature audience drawn to The Gentle Giant, deeply appreciated a song that acknowledged the complexity and sometimes self-sabotaging nature of real-life relationships.
The magic of “Mistakes” lies in the fact that the narrator knows exactly what he’s doing. Written by Richard Feldman, the song’s narrative is immediately set up as a confrontation with well-meaning but ultimately interfering friends. They tell him he’s “crazy,” that he’s “nuts” for trying to go back to a woman who is clearly trouble: “They say that once is enough.” This is the kind of familiar, frustrating advice every one of us has received when we’re caught in the irresistible, illogical pull of an old flame.
But the narrator isn’t blind. He’s not naive. He understands the risk, and that’s what makes the song so compelling and so relatable to a seasoned listener. He is consciously choosing the path of potential heartbreak over the safe, lonely one his friends recommend. It’s an almost philosophical stance on love and personal freedom.
The core of the song, the line that delivers its profound punch, is the defiant and humble acceptance of his own agency:
“I don’t want to hear another word / Don’t need your well thought out advice / Though I thank you all for being kind / I can make mistakes, myself just fine.“
In Don Williams’ unhurried, gentle, and utterly sincere delivery, this line is less a snap of anger and more a quiet assertion of a man who has earned the right to follow his heart, even if it’s leading him back into a familiar, painful corner. For the older generation, this sentiment rings true: there is wisdom in knowing that you can be lectured all day, but ultimately, the choices that define your life, the mistakes that teach you the most, must be your own. You cannot be saved from yourself; you must live your life, flaws and all.
This song isn’t a plea for sympathy; it’s a declaration of emotional independence. It is a beautiful reminder that life isn’t about avoiding error; it’s about owning your experiences, accepting the consequences, and finding a stubborn kind of comfort in the certainty of your own feelings, no matter how illogical they may seem to the outside world.