Mistakes Have the Power – A Song for Ume
While walking to each other’s place, my cowriter and I challenged ourselves to write an Ume-themed song. The result was “Mistakes Have the Power”—a warm reminder from Ume to Kabu that even failures (and turnip heads) can lead to something unexpectedly beautiful.
Back when we were first finding our rhythm—25-minute walks to each other's place became sacred ground. No podcasts, no distractions. Just a standing challenge: write a song, generate it in Suno, and have something to share by the time we arrived.
This song, “Mistakes Have the Power,” was born from one of those walks.
That day, we challenged each other to write something centered around Ume. We didn’t know much about her yet—she was still a chaotic scribble in the margins of the show bible—but we did know this:
She loved science.
She embraced experimentation.
She found beauty in disorder.
That was enough.
Somewhere between convenience stores and crosswalks, I had the image of Kabu slumped on a log, head low (turnip-head jokes aside), carrying guilt from the disaster in Furumi. And beside him? Ume, bright-eyed, rattling off stories about her failed potions and overgrown plants—trying to show him that sometimes the most wonderful discoveries grow out of accidents.
The idea clicked immediately:
Ume wouldn’t comfort Kabu by denying his mistakes. She’d celebrate them.
✨ Lyrics: A Hug in Song Form
Oh Kabu, I know things didn’t go as planned…
You held on to hope, but it slipped from your hand.
But let me tell you something that I’ve learned along the way—
Mistakes have a power, they brighten the day!
The verses are full of small alchemical mishaps turned miracles—ink spills becoming inspiration, overgrown flowers lighting up snow-covered paths. They’re exaggerated, sure, but they feel like Ume: playful, curious, unbothered by chaos. She’s not a "everything happens for a reason" kind of person. She’s more “everything happens, and we figure it out from there.”
🎶 From Prompt to Playback
We ran the lyrics through Suno, fiddled with a few vocal styles, and were honestly kind of shocked at how well it captured the tone—bouncy, sincere, just a little goofy. There’s something delightfully surreal about hearing a generative voice say “Even turnip heads can shine so bright!” and having it land.
Would we tweak it for the show? Probably. But as a rough sketch of Ume’s philosophy, it’s one of the most honest things we’ve written.
🔗 Listen & Download
🌱 Final Thoughts
If this song taught me anything, it’s that the cliché is true—good ideas really do come from doing the thing over and over. Not every walk gave us something great. But this one did.
