When You Gonna Learn

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"When You Gonna Learn"
When You Gonna Learn single.jpg
Single by Jamiroquai
from the album Emergency on Planet Earth
B-side"Didgin' Out" (Live)
Released
  • 19 October 1992 (Acid Jazz)
  • 13 September 1993 (Sony)
Genre
Length3:50 (album version)
6:20 (JK mix)
Label
Songwriter(s)
  • Jay Kay
Producer(s)
  • Mike Neilsen
  • Jason Kay
Jamiroquai singles chronology
"When You Gonna Learn"
(1992) 		"Too Young to Die"
(1993)
Jamiroquai singles chronology
"Emergency on Planet Earth"
(1993) 		"When You Gonna Learn"
(1993) 		"The Kids"
(1994)
Audio sample
Menu
0:00
  • file
  • help
Music video
"When You Gonna Learn" on YouTube

"When You Gonna Learn" is the debut single released by British funk/acid jazz band Jamiroquai. It was originally released in 1992 by Acid Jazz Records, then re-released on Sony Records in 1993 as the lead single from the band's debut studio album, Emergency on Planet Earth. The lyrical themes, like many of Jamiroquai's early songs, speak of environmental awareness.

History[]

The demo was recorded without didgeridoo player Wallis Buchanan. While the most commonly known version of the song lasts for 3:50, and can be found on the band's album, another, longer version exists. Known as the "J.K. mix", it lasts for 6:28 and appears on the vinyl version of the Emergency on Planet Earth album as well as on the "When You Gonna Learn" and "Blow Your Mind" singles.

Samples[]

"When You Gonna Learn" was not the first single written and issued by Jay Kay, though it is the first single as Jamiroquai. Kay's first single was actually a white label acetate called "Natural Energy", which was pressed only in three copies.[citation needed] Kiss 100 FM was the first radio station to play the single.[citation needed] The chord progressions of the song bear a striking resemblance to the chord progressions of a Johnny "Hammond" Smith's track called "Los Conquistadores Chocolatés", taken from his 1975 album Gears. The booklet of the Acid Jazz Records release of the single bears a "special thanks" note to Smith, who gave permission to Kay to use the composition's structure. It is unknown whether Hammond received any royalties.

The chord progressions of the Cantè Hondo Mix of the song bear even more resemblance to "Los Conquistadores Chocolatés". The Cantè Hondo Mixes also uses the wind sound effect from Hammond's song. The cover used by Acid Jazz Records is completely different from the cover on Sony's release, although a Spanish promo issued by Sony bears the Acid Jazz Records cover. There have been legal disputes between Acid Jazz Records and Epic Records because Epic re-released the single without Acid Jazz Records' consent.[citation needed]

Critical reception[]

Larry Flick from Billboard wrote, "U.K. nouveau-soul artist kicks a hearty vocal performance, amid a stack of brassy horns and jiggly funk guitars. Comparisons to Simply Red are in the offing, even though J's composition has a more jazz-injected tone." He added it as a "wonderfully creative and accessible shoulder-shaker".[1] Pan-European magazine Music & Media commented, "Hats off for J.K.'s original idea to introduce a digeridoo to '70s soul. Even better are the intelligent anti-war lyrics. Perhaps Arafat and Rabin have received a copy."[2] Andy Beevers from Music Week gave it five out of five, stating that "this is arguably his best song".[3] James Hamilton from the magazine's RM Dance Update described it as a "Stevie Wonder-ish "Johannesburg"-style jogger with strange didgeridoo and strings woven rare groove-type" song.[4]

Music video[]

A music video was shot for "When You Gonna Learn". It was directed by Morgan Lawley and interspersed artistic shots of lead singer Jay Kay as well as footage of the band playing while graphic stock footage of animals being experimented on and whaling operations are intercut within the video. The original version was banned from MTV because of the confronting imagery; it was replaced with a "cleaner" edit. The uncut video can be viewed on YouTube.[5] When Kay talked about the video in an interview,[6] he stated that it had been his intention to make an intense 'shock video', depicting various experiments done on animals, whaling operations, and the Nazis, all in the most negative light: "I remember I did the video in America, and I remember the video got banned—you know, the video got banned. Well, because I just went to Greenpeace and just took loads of footage of stuff... stuff that I just didn't think was right. So, well, they [the American censors] said, 'Hey, we can't play that; it's got, like, the Nazi party in there—we can't play that' ".[7] He also said in 1993 that "I wasn't trying to compare it to environmental issues. But I put in those images of the Holocaust because if you can't see that Nazism is on the rise, if you don't remind people, then it's just going to come back."[8]

Track listing[]

Charts[]

Chart (1992) Peak
position
UK Singles (Official Charts Company) 52
UK Dance Singles (Music Week)[10] 1

References[]

  1. ^ Flick, Larry (26 June 1993). "Single Reviews" (PDF). Billboard. p. 84. Retrieved 26 October 2020.
  2. ^ "New Releases: Albums" (PDF). Music & Media. 2 October 1993. p. 10. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. ^ Beevers, Andy (11 September 1993). "Market Preview: Dance" (PDF). Music Week. p. 14. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  4. ^ Hamilton, James (13 February 1993). "Djdirectory" (PDF). Music Week, in Record Mirror (Dance Update Supplemental Insert). p. 7. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  5. ^ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eo7iwlMFPrM
  6. ^ "Jamiroquai - Interview with JK about his music videos -PART1". YouTube. 27 February 2007. Retrieved 14 March 2012.
  7. ^ Interview with Jay Kay (2005) – Behind the Music
  8. ^ Bennun, David (1993). "Jamiroquai". Melody Maker.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Jamiroquai | Music | Singles | When You Gonna Learn". funkin.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  10. ^ "Top 60 Dance Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 31 October 1992. p. 22. Retrieved 29 September 2020.

External links[]

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