"Clean Money" would ultimately be released as one of the B-sides of his 1980 single "Clubland" as well as on the rarities albums "Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers" and "Taking Liberties". "Accidents Will Happen" was released as the second single from the "Armed Forces" album, after "Oliver's Army". It reached number 28 on the UK Singles Chart in June 1979. The song also reached number 101 in the United States and attracted notable FM radio play. In reference to the song title, the cover of the single was printed inside-out, and the run-out groove on side A reads "Porky Prime Cuts Will Happen" (referring to the trademark signature of cutting engineer George Peckham). The record had two B-sides; "Talking in the Dark" and "Wednesday Week". A live version of the song would be released on an EP included with early American pressings of "Armed Forces", featuring the stripped-down arrangement from Hollywood High with Costello on vocals and Nieve on piano. AllMusic's Mark Deming described this version as "a telling example of the malleability of Costello's music, and a preview of the stylistic diversity that was to dominate his work in later years". This version would also appear on the live album "Live at Hollywood High". "Accidents Will Happen" was accompanied by an animated music video created by Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton. Featuring cartoon footage of the band interspersed with common accidents, such as toast being burnt, a bathtub overflowing, and a nuclear missile being launched. According to Jankel, Costello had been unavailable for a live-action video, so 35mm stills of the band were used. Speaking of the video, Jankel said,  The ending sequence features a computer-generated image of Costello that was created using a computer at a London university. Jankel cites Piet Mondrian as inspiration for the visual. Because of this feature, "PC Magazine" described this portion as "the very first computer-generated moving image in a music video." The video was one of the 35 videos selected for the Museum of Modern Art's "Golden Oldies of Music Video" exhibition in 2003. "Accidents Will Happen" has received critical acclaim as one of the highlights of "Armed Forces" and as one of Costello's greatest songs. Geoffrey Himes of "The Washington Post" lavishly praised the song in a 1979 article, saying, "'Accidents Will Happen' ... is one of those rare moments in rock 'n' roll that works on all levels at once".