Light Years (Jamiroquai song)

"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 was released as a single on 12 February 1995 by Sony Soho Square and Work, but it failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart due to the release being cancelled at the eleventh hour.^{[clarification needed]}

"Light Years"
Single by Jamiroquai
from the album The Return of the Space Cowboy
B-side	"We Gettin' Down"
Released	20 February 1995 (1995-02-20)
Genre	Funk
Length	5:53
Label	Sony Soho Square, Work
Songwriter(s)	Jay Kay, Toby Smith
Producer(s)	Rick Pope
Jamiroquai singles chronology
"Half the Man" (1994) "Light Years" (1995) "Stillness in Time" (1995)
Music video
"Light Years" on YouTube

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.^[1]

Critical reception

Larry Flick wrote in a Billboard 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."^[2] 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."^[3] Roger Morton from NME felt it "gets its funky piano ass out to expose some sunshine-of-my-life spiritedness".^[4]

Music video

The Music video shows clips of Snowboarding along with the band partaking in the activity.

It was produced to promote the single, directed by Christian Stevenson.^[5] It was later made available on Jamiroquai's official YouTube channel in 2009 and had generated almost 1 million views as of October 2021.^[6]

Track listings

• UK CD single^[7]

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^[8]

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)[citation needed]	112
US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[9]	6
US Dance Singles Sales (Billboard)[10]	38

Release history

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