So Young (Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons song)

"So Young" is a pop song written by Joe Camilleri, Jeff Burstin and Tony Faehse and recorded by Australian blues, rock and R&B band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons. The song was the group's fifth single, released in September 1978 as the lead single from a 12" EP also entitled So Young (1978).

Camilleri said of the song "It's Reggae meets son of Blues, with many different time changes. It took the band a week to learn because it was so intricate and not like anything else we'd tried."^[1] He claimed to have written the song in June 1978 and said on its release that it was not necessarily about being young, but about "innocence". He added: "For that reason the vocals are softer. I was trying to make the sound compatible with the sentiments expressed in the song."^[2]

'So Young' peaked at number 48 on the Kent Music Report in Australia, becoming the band's first top 50 single. "Everyone said that should have been a hit," Camilleri commented the following year, "but no one bought the bloody thing."^[3] A live version of 'So Young' appeared on the 'free album' included in the first 5,000 Australian pressings of their next album, Screaming Targets. The group also re-recorded the song for the internationally released version of Screaming Targets.