Light Years (Jamiroquai song)

"Light Years"
Single by Jamiroquai
from the album The Return of the Space Cowboy
B-side"We Gettin' Down"
Released20 February 1995 (1995-02-20)
GenreFunk[1]
Length5:53
LabelSony Soho Square
Songwriters
ProducerRick Pope
Jamiroquai singles chronology
"Half the Man"
(1994) 		"Light Years"
(1995) 		"Stillness in Time"
(1995)
Music video
"Light Years" on YouTube

"Light Years" is a song by the British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai, originally released in 1994 as a song from their second studio album, The Return of the Space Cowboy (1994). It is written by band members Jay Kay and Toby Smith, and produced by Rick Pope. The song was released as a single on 20 February 1995 by Sony Soho Square, but it failed to appear on the UK Singles Chart. The accompanying music video was directed by Christian Stevenson, and shows clips of snowboarding along with the band partaking in the activity.

Background

In the United States, the song peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart, mainly because the American version of the physical single features three mixes of the song by popular producer David Morales. The American release of The Return of the Space Cowboy also features a live version of "Light Years", performed in Marseille in December 1994, as a bonus track. Two main versions of the song exist: the radio edit, running at 3:59, and an album version, which lasts for 5:53. The music video for the track shows the band snowboarding down St. Anton. Whilst many of the David Morales mixes remain unreleased in the United Kingdom, an edited version of the True Power Mix was available in the region on a mini 3-inch CD, only available through the Coca-Cola Euro '96 promotion.

Critical reception

Larry Flick wrote in a Billboard magazine review of the single, "Jamiroquai complements a horn-riddled funk throwdown with savvy remixes that flirt with mainstream house and hip-hop concepts without eliminating the quirky tone of the original version."[1] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "When J.K quotes his master by saying "now I get that sunshine in my life", we don't have to tell you what the best track off Space Cowboy sounds like. Wonderful, of course, and soulful."[2] Roger Morton from NME felt it "gets its funky piano ass out to expose some sunshine-of-my-life spiritedness".[3]

Track listings

  • UK CD single[4]
  1. "Light Years" (edit) – 3:59
  2. "Scam" (live) – 5:13
  3. "Journey to Arnhemland" (live) – 5:39
  4. "We Gettin' Down" (live) – 9:31
  • US 12-inch vinyl[5]
A1. "Light Years" (Way Gone Mix)
A2. "Light Years" (True Power Mix)
B1. "Light Years" (4 to Da Floor Mix)
B2. "Light Years" (album version)
B3. "Light Years" (album instrumental)

Charts

Chart (1995–1996) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[6] 112
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[7] 6
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[8] 38

Release history

Region Date Format(s) Label(s) Ref.
United Kingdom 20 February 1995
  • 12-inch vinyl
  • CD
  • cassette
 Sony Soho Square [9]
Australia 20 March 1995
  • CD
  • cassette
 [10]
Japan 21 May 1995 CD Epic [11]
United States 13 February 1996 Rhythmic contemporary radio Work [12]

References

  1. ^ a b Flick, Larry (17 February 1996). "Light Years, a single by Jamiroquai". Billboard. Vol. 108. p. 88. ProQuest 227076257.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. 11 March 1995. p. 12. Retrieved 17 May 2021.
  3. ^ Morton, Roger (22 October 1994). "Long Play". NME. p. 46. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  4. ^ Light Years (UK CD single liner notes). Sony Soho Square. 1995. 661256 2.
  5. ^ Light Years (UK 12-inch vinyl disc). Work Group. 1995. XSS-7652.
  6. ^ "Response from ARIA re: Jamiroquai ARIA singles chart history, received 19 September 2017". ARIA. Retrieved 5 February 2026 – via Imgur. N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the single's peak on the national chart.
  7. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Dance Club Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Jamiroquai Chart History (Dance Singles Sales)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  9. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 18 February 1995. p. 31. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
  10. ^ "New Releases – Product Available from : 20/03/95: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 266. 19 March 1995. p. 20.
  11. ^ "ライト・イヤーズ | ジャミロクワイ" [Light Years | Jamiroquai] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 29 August 2023.
  12. ^ "Selected New Releases" (PDF). Radio & Records. No. 1132. 9 February 1996. p. 34. Retrieved 12 August 2021.
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