Jamiroquai is an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 199… Read Full Bio ↴Jamiroquai is an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in their early releases and later drew from rock, disco, electronic and Latin music genres. Lyrically, the group has addressed social and environmental justice. Kay has remained as the only original member through several line-up changes.

The band made their debut under Acid Jazz Records but subsequently found mainstream success under Sony. While under this label, three of their albums have charted at number one in the UK, including Emergency on Planet Earth (1993), Synkronized (1999) and A Funk Odyssey (2001). The band's 1998 single, "Deeper Underground", was also number one in their native country.

As of 2017, Jamiroquai had sold more than 26 million albums worldwide. Their third album, Travelling Without Moving (1996), received a Guinness World Record as the best-selling funk album in history. The music video for its lead single, "Virtual Insanity", also contributed to the band's success. The song was named Video of the Year at the 1997 MTV Video Music Awards and earned the band a Grammy Award in 1998.

Full Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamiroquai

Studio albums
Emergency on Planet Earth (1993)
The Return of the Space Cowboy (1994)
Travelling Without Moving (1996)
Synkronized (1999)
A Funk Odyssey (2001)
Dynamite (2005)
Rock Dust Light Star (2010)
Automaton (2017)

Emergency on Planet Earth
Jamiroquai Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

The kids need education,
And the streets are never clean,
I've seen, a certain disposition, prevailing in the wind,
Sweet change, if anybody's listening?
Emergency on planet earth.
Is that life that I am witnessing,
Or just another wasted birth.

Now, we got emergency
Oh, we got emergency on planet Earth
Now, we got emergency
Oh, we got emergency on planet Earth

Think we're standing for injustice,
White gets two and black gets five years,
Took me quite a while to suss this,
But now I know my head is cleared
And a little boy in hungry land, is just a picture in the news,
Won't see him in that tv advertising, 'cause it might put you off your food

Now, we got emergency
Oh, we got emergency on planet Earth

Now, we got emergency
Oh, we got emergency on planet Earth

Overall Meaning

"Emergency on Planet Earth" is a socioeconomic critique song written by Jay Kay, the lead vocalist of Jamiroquai, and Toby Smith, the band's keyboardist, for their debut album of the same name in 1993. The lyrics touch on the issues of education and cleanliness in streets, as well as racial and class disparities in the criminal justice system. Jay Kay masterfully makes a connection between the "prevailing disposition" and "sweet change," referring to the depleted state of the planet and the urgent need for action to create a positive outcome. He wonders if life as we see it is worth all the wasted births we witness, suggesting that there's an urgent need for change.

The second verse focuses on the injustice that underlines the criminal justice system, where white criminals are sentenced to lesser years than their black counterparts for the same crime. It took the singer (presumably the songwriter himself) a while to figure out the system's blatant bias between black and white cases, but now he's clear on what's really going on. The song concludes with sympathizing with the less privileged ones, bringing to attention their suffering as seen in world news, keeping in mind that such issues don't make it to TV ads because people might be put off their food.

Line by Line Meaning

The kids need education,
Children require education in order to lead a fulfilling life.

And the streets are never clean,
The streets need cleaning to maintain a healthy and safe environment for everyone.

I've seen, a certain disposition, prevailing in the wind,
There is a particular attitude or feeling that seems to be spreading amongst people.

Sweet change, if anybody's listening?
It would be wonderful to see positive change, but is anyone paying enough attention to make it happen?

Emergency on planet earth.
The world is facing a crisis that requires immediate attention and action.

Is that life that I am witnessing,
The situations and events we are experiencing seem painful and difficult to endure.

Or just another wasted birth.
Perhaps our existence on this planet is meaningless or futile.

Think we're standing for injustice,
Many people believe that we must fight against unfair treatment of others.

White gets two and black gets five years,
Racial biases exist within the legal system and often result in disproportionate sentencing for different races.

Took me quite a while to suss this,
It took me some time to understand and recognize these injustices.

But now I know my head is cleared
I have informed myself and my awareness is heightened.

And a little boy in hungry land, is just a picture in the news,
We may be desensitized to the suffering of others due to a constant bombardment of news images and stories.

Won't see him in that tv advertising, 'cause it might put you off your food
Advertisers tend to avoid difficult or uncomfortable topics in order to protect their bottom line.

Now, we got emergency
The crisis we are experiencing is happening now and requires immediate action.

Oh, we got emergency on planet Earth
The situation on Earth is dire and we must address it urgently.

Lyrics © EMI Music Publishing
Written by: JASON KAY, TOBY SMITH

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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