Sentimental Journey is a 1940s big band and pop standard written by Les Brown, Ben Homer, and Bud Green. It was originally performed by Doris Day with the Les Brown Orchestra, recorded on November 20, 1944 and released on Columbia Records in January 1945 as catalog 36769, with Twilight Time on the flip side. The song tells of a traveler about to take a sentimental journey to a place of deep emotional attachment, renewing old memories along the way. It became Doris Day’s first number one hit on the Billboard charts, staying at the top for 23 weeks, and it arrived as World War II was ending, serving as an unofficial homecoming theme for veterans. The tune later appeared on Doris Day’s 1965 album Doris Day’s Sentimental Journey, and it has been covered by artists such as Ringo Starr, Bob Dylan, and Rod Stewart (Rod Stewart’s version appears on Swing Fever in 2024).
