Dionne Warwick - Do You Know The Way To San Jose

Written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David specifically for Dionne Warwick and released in 1968. It reached #10 on the US Chart and #8 on the UK Chart. The song led Warwick to earned a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Pop Vocal Performance, Female.

Warwick didn't want to record the song, but she was encouraged by the songwriters. Warwick: "I thought it was a really silly song. Obviously Hal David had a great affinity for San Jose as I believe he was stationed there during his time time in the Navy and he loved the place and he wrote a song about it. I just giggled all the way to the bank, what can I tell you?"

Burt Bacharach (from Record Collector magazine): "Dionne did not want to record that song. She didn't like it. But we talked her into it and she did it. Her mind changed once it was a hit (laughs). I knew it was a pretty special song and I knew it was a different kind of song, too."

Dionne Warwick - Do You Know The Way To San Jose

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?
Can't wait to get back to San Jose.