As a vocalist, I admire and respect, greatly, the talents of Barbra Streisand. When I searched for the lone cover to record for the album, Prisoner (Love theme from the Eyes of Laura Mars) came to mind. It had everything I was looking for: power, dynamics and a vocal that could really soar.
Lyrically, I felt it could emphasize, just a little more, the obsessive love felt between the characters in the film. After watching it, the lines “I can’t see beyond the pain / Darkness surrounds me now” found a home in an added bridge section. The musical passages are as varied as the characters themselves. Prisoner begins an octave lower than the original version then jumps to Streisand’s key from the second verse and beyond.
The backing vocals, performed by Stacey Williams, provide a haunting landscape to the chorus and bridge. Marcus Wolf‘s guitar solo is dark and moody, complimenting the song’s theme.
Prisoner - Buy now!
Written by Karen Lawrence and John Desautels
Copyright 2002 Envision Entertainment