Do You Know the Way to San José

Album: Dionne Warwick in Valley of the Dolls (1968)
Charted: 8 10
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  • Do you know the way to San Jose?
    I've been away so long. I may go wrong and lose my way
    Do you know the way to San Jose?
    I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose

    L.A. is a great big freeway
    Put a hundred down and buy a car
    In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
    Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
    And all the stars that never were
    Are parking cars and pumping gas

    You can really breathe in San Jose
    They've got a lot of space. There'll be a place where I can stay
    I was born and raised in San Jose
    I'm going back to find some peace of mind in San Jose

    Fame and fortune is a magnet
    It can pull you far away from home
    With a dream in your heart you're never alone
    Dreams turn into dust and blow away
    And there you are without a friend
    You pack your car and ride away

    I've got lots of friends in San Jose
    Do you know the way to San Jose?

    L.A. is a great big freeway
    Put a hundred down and buy a car
    In a week, maybe two, they'll make you a star
    Weeks turn into years. How quick they pass
    And all the stars that never were
    Are parking cars and pumping gas

    I've got lots of friends in San Jose
    Do you know the way to San Jose?
    Can't wait to get back to San Jose Writer/s: Burt Bacharach, Burt F. Bacharach, Hal David
    Publisher: BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Songtrust Ave
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Comments: 11

  • Christopher from Parsippany, NjIt’s funny that the song lyrics say “I was born and raised in San Jose”. Dionne Warwick was born and raised in East Orange, NJ.
  • Tony Arioli from Guerneville, CaTo Nicholaus from Tracy: The former San Jose City Manager, "Dutch" Hamann (1950-1969) vowed to make San Jose the "Los Angeles of Northern California" upon assuming the position in 1950. It had pretty much become that by 1965.
  • Tony Arioli from Guerneville, CaIn 1968 when this song was released, San Jose was already a "great big freeway."
  • Seventhmist from 7th HeavenI'm sure SJ is a now "great big freeway" as well, with a population topping 1,000,000.
  • Jennifur Sun from RamonaI do now.
  • Aiken Nutz from Tahlequah OkWay back in '68 I had graduated college & was working in Kansas City, Mo. when this record was big. I loved Warwick's voice & still do. It was all over the KC radio station back then & I recall seeing her on TV shows like Ed Sullivan & American Bandstand singing various hits. I think it was in the early 2000s when I heard her do a NPR interview for radio & she did admit to disliking this song, but recorded it anyway. I'm glad she did. Even though it peaked at #10 on the Hot 100, she got a gold record award for it anyway. I prefer her later hits, but this one is really catchy. Kind of bouncy & upbeat for that time.
  • Melissa from London, United KingdomI saw Dionne interviewed on UK TV a few years ago and she professed to absolutely hating this song, and needed to be convinced in order to record it! However, the public loved it - it became one of her biggest hits!!!
  • Nicholaus from Tracy, CaYes, San Jose has inherited many of L.A.'s difficulties, that this song pans. But, San Jose doesn't have the same feeling of hopelessness and negativity that, L.A. can generate and hit you in the face with! Even though San Jose has lost much of its' "agricultural" open space, just like L.A. did in the Sixties. It still is a much more humane and liveable city than poor L.A. can be. This song still has as much as truth to it, as it did 40 years ago in my opinion!
  • Howard from St. Louis Park, MnThis was one of Dionne Warwick's biggest hits.
  • Mike from Santa Barbara, CaThe line "Put a hundred down and buy a car," shows how old this song is. If the song were to be covered in current times, that line would have to be changed.
  • Bob from San Jose, CaI read in an interview that it was actually Burt Bacharach that was station at Fort Ord, which was an Army Base, now closed, stationed south of Monterey. They would take their leave and head north towards S.F. They would eventually come to party in San Jose (now the Capital of Silicon Valley)which is 50 miles south of S.F. This was around '56,'57. The Irony is now San Jose is alot like L.A. traffic and freeways, but it's still beautiful!........Beto.
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