You know the song, ubiquitous in the late 60s, "Do You Know the Way to San Jose?" I was just in the shower, where it occurred to me -- with the penetrating insight that only comes to people in the shower -- that the song makes sense to everybody in the country, except people familiar with California.
The narrator is from San Jose and lives in Los Angeles. And he keeps asking directions to get back to San Jose. Directions? You go North! What person from San Jose would need directions to get there from Los Angeles?
Is the song really made for non-Californian sensibilities? The lyricist, Hal David, is from New York, after all. Or was the song a subtle but blistering (and rather unfair) commentary on the brain-atrophying effects of long term Los Angeles exposure? If the latter, then the song is actually . . . FUNNY. It's about a person who went to Los Angeles and lost his (or her -- it's usually her, as in Dionne Warwick) mind, and now can only babble incoherently to a stranger while asking for unnecessary directions.
I like that.
Posted By: Mick LaSalle (Email) April 21 2009 at 04:08 PM
Listed Under: American Life
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment