Too Young to Die

"Too Young to Die" is a song by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released in March 1993 as the second single from their debut studio album, Emergency on Planet Earth (1993). The original version of the track runs at 10:18; however, both the single and album versions were cut, running at 3:22 and 6:05, respectively. The single received positive reviews from music critics, who compared lead singer Jay Kay to Stevie Wonder. Commercially, "Too Young to Die" peaked at number 10 on the UK Singles Chart and reached the top 50 in France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. The track's stems were made available to the public in March 2013 as part of a remix competition for the song; as such, there is an abundance of bootleg remixes to the song in addition to the official remixes. The competition was won by Australian DJ and music producer Late Nite Tuff Guy. Background The commercial single includes all three versions of the track. The song's lyrics are about the fear of war and death due to political machinations. The single's cover art depicts Jay Kay in the background, looking into the camera, with a sky-blue "grill" of the Buffalo Man in the left, as hollow spots, which are slowly morphing into solid blue crosses (specifically, headstones), which are the polar opposites to the meaning of the buffalo man. This morphing happens as one moves their eyes from left to right over the cover of the single. There is also a banner near the bottom of the sleeve which has several images on it, including a picture of a baby with a caption beside it reading "Too Young to Die", an image of the mushroom cloud, and a Swastika, with the latter having a red "X" over it. The violin from the song was sampled in the drum & bass D'Cruze song "Lonely" in 1994 on Suburban Base Records. Critical reception Peter Paphides from Melody Maker named "Too Young to Die" Single of the Week, along with "When You Gonna Learn", adding that it "takes the mood down a touch and sees Jamiroquai daubing a rudimentary batch of anti-war sentiments with an invigorating joie de vivre. [...] "Too Young to Die" complements its predeccessor as wonderfully as an Irish coffee after a steak platter." Pan-European magazine Music & Media noted its "uplifting strings intro" and "Jay's "Stevie Wonder"-ful voice [that] grabs the melody and envelopes itself in a warm overcoat of horns, funky guitar and intricate percussion accompaniment worthy of a Roy Ayers set.