“(Is This The Way To) Amarillo” is a song written by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. It is about a man traveling to Amarillo, Texas, to find his girlfriend Marie. The reason that Amarillo was chosen for the song was because it was the only place name that Sedaka could think of that rhymed with “willow” and “pillow”. The song was originally to be titled “Is This the Way to Pensacola” referring to Pensacola, Florida, but Sedaka felt that Amarillo worked better than Pensacola.
Written by two Americans with a strong country-western lyrical theme, the song was first released in Europe, where it has become much more popular than in the composers’ native country, with a big-band/orchestral pop arrangement sung by Tony Christie. Christie’s version was a major hit in Europe and a modest success in his native United Kingdom upon its release, then became even more popular in the mid-2000s when the song was reissued. As Christie’s version failed to make a major impact in the U.S., Sedaka released his own recording of the song in 1977, which narrowly missed the top 40 but was an easy listening hit in the U.S. and Canada.
Amarillo (1971)
When the day is dawnin’
On a Texas Sunday mornin’
How I long to be there
With Marie who’s waitin’ for me there
Ev’ry lonely city where I hang my hat
Ain’t as half as pretty as where my baby’s at
Is this the way to Amarillo?
Ev’ry night I’ve been huggin’ my pillow
Dreamin’ dreams of Amarillo
And sweet Marie who waits for me
Show me the way to Amarillo
I’ve been weepin’ like a willow
Cryin’ over Amarillo
And sweet Marie who waits for me
And Marie who waits for me
There’s a church bell ringin’
Hear the sound of joy that it’s singin’
For the sweet Maria
And the guy who’s comin’ to see her
Just beyond the highway
there’s an…
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