Setting Sons is the fourth studio album by the English rock band the Jam, released on 16 November 1979 by Polydor Records.

[6] In contrast to its pop-oriented predecessor, Setting Sons features a much harder, tougher production, albeit with the emphasis on melody common throughout the Jam's discography.

Singer, guitarist and songwriter Paul Weller originally conceived Setting Sons as a concept album detailing the lives of three boyhood friends who later reunite as adults after an unspecified war, only to discover they have grown both up and apart.

[7] This concept was never fully developed and it remains unclear which tracks were originally intended as part of the story, although it is commonly agreed that "Thick as Thieves", "Little Boy Soldiers", "Wasteland" and "Burning Sky" are likely constituents; extant Jam bootlegs feature a version of "Little Boy Soldiers" split into three separate recordings, possible evidence that the song was intended to serve as a recurring motif, with separate sections appearing between other songs on the album.

The song was originally released as the B-side of the non-LP single "When You're Young" three months before the album's release; on Setting Sons it is re-recorded in an all-strings arrangement (provided by former Procol Harum and Whitesnake organist Peter Solley and credited to The Jam Philharmonic Orchestra, but played by session musicians), save a little electric guitar in the coda.

[19] The Globe and Mail noted that "Setting Sons isn't commercial new wave, a la Joe Jackson or Elvis Costello, but it is relentless and honest".