"Too Young to Die" is a song by British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, released in March 1993 by Sony Soho Square as the second single from their debut studio album, Emergency on Planet Earth (1993). The song was written by lead singer Jason Kay and Toby Smith, and produced by Kay. 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 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. Its music video was directed by W.I.Z. 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.[2]
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.[3]
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 predecessor as wonderfully as an Irish coffee after a steak platter."[4] 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. "Real" music for the acid jazzed amongst you."[5] Alan Jones from Music Week described the song as a "loose and attractive retro-funk workout that owes more to the Seventies than the Nineties."[6] Sam Steele from NME wrote, "'Jam-ir-o-kwai' ... got it? Good. Remember it, because the big voice and even bigger hats are unlikely to go away. Jay, the wearer of the wholly tea-cosy (and son of jazz singer Mary Kay), has one of the most powerful and impressive soul voices to slide across the dance spectrum in a long while."[7]
Kevin L. Carter from Philadelphia Inquirer commented, "Jamiroquai is a big Stevie Wonder fan. His vocal flourishes and hooks on "Too Young to Die" are obvious borrowings, but they're done so earnestly, and the song is so deftly arranged, it just about gets over."[8] Dr Bob Jones from the Record Mirror Dance Update stated, "This is pure soul jazz with the funky bassline. A simple worldly message is scattered over a tight rhythm section with horn stabs Seventies-style. Pure class — one to raise some dust!"[9] Tony Cross from Smash Hits gave the song four out of five, commenting, "Led by the young (but still Stevie Wonder sounding) lead singer Jay, Jamiroquai have updated dark and dirty '70s funk. This is a stylish anti-war song that has really got what it takes. The obscenely talented Jamiroquai will go from strength to strength."[10] Another Smash Hits editor, Pete Stanton, noted that it "feature a multitude of enticing grooves (plus plenty of do-do-do-dad-dos)."[11]
A music video was shot for "Too Young to Die". It was directed by British director W.I.Z. (a.k.a. Andrew John Whiston), and consisted mainly of Jay Kay singing in what appears to be a desert military installation.[12]
^Steele, Sam (6 March 1993). "Singles". NME. p. 22. Retrieved 5 May 2023.
^L. Carter, Kevin (21 September 1993). "Ron Carter Continues to Combine Jazz with Classical's Lyricism". Philadelphia Inquirer.
^Jones, Dr Bob (20 February 1993). "Hot Vinyl Buzzing"(PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 6. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
