"When You're Young" was the eighth single released by

the Jam The Jam were an English mod revival/ punk rock band formed in 1972 at Sheerwater Secondary School in Woking, Surrey. They released 18 consecutive Top 40 singles in the United Kingdom, from their debut in 1977 to their break-up in December 198 ...

. The single was released on 17 August 1979, and charted at number 17 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 8 September. The B-Side of the single, "Smithers-Jones", is a guitar-based recording of this song, as opposed to the all-

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

arrangement composed at the suggestion of the band's drummer,

Rick Buckler Paul Richard Buckler (born 6 December 1955) is an English musician who is the former drummer of The Jam. Early years Buckler was born in the town of Woking in the county of Surrey, England. He received his education at Sheerwater Secondary Sch ...

, and included on their fourth album, ''

Setting Sons ''Setting Sons'' is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Jam, released on 16 November 1979 by Polydor Records. It reached No. 4 in the UK Albums Chart upon the first week of release, continuing the commercial (and critical) favou ...

''.

Release

"When You're Young" was not included upon any of the Jam's albums at the time of their original release, although both tracks ("When You're Young" and "Smithers-Jones") were included as bonus tracks upon the 2001 re-release of ''Setting Sons''. In addition, the song has been included upon several Jam compilation albums, including ''

The Very Best of The Jam ''The Very Best of The Jam'' is the third greatest hits package (fourth including '' Compact Snap!'') from The Jam. The compilation was released on 25 October 1997, and features all of The Jam's singles in chronological order.

''. The single's promotional video was filmed in Queens Park, North West London.

B-side

"Smithers-Jones", written by

Bruce Foxton Bruce Douglas Foxton (born 1 September 1955) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. Foxton's music career spans more than 40 years. He came to prominence in the late 1970s as bassist and backing vocalist of mod revival band the Jam. ...

, was the B-side of "When You're Young". It was re-worked with an all-strings arrangement at the suggestion of the band's drummer,

, for inclusion in the band's fourth album ''

'' released in November 1979. It has been considered to be Foxton's finest songwriting contribution to The Jam, with the lyrical inspiration drawing from Foxton's own father who had decided to retire upon being made redundant.''That's Entertainment: My Life in The Jam'' p. 130

References

{{Authority control 1979 singles 1979 songs Polydor Records singles Song recordings produced by Vic Coppersmith-Heaven Songs written by Paul Weller The Jam songs