In 1934, Harry Warren and Al Dubin wrote “I Only Have Eyes For You” for the film Dame. In 1959, the Chicago street-corner doo-wop serenade of The Flamingos brought it to #3 on the Billboard soul chart. In 1975, Art Garfunkel brought it to #1 on the “Adult Contemporary” chart. Cliff Richard, The Lettermen, Jerry Butler, Zapp, Carly Simon, Carmen McRae and Big Joe Williams also tackled it.
Enter Karen Mansfield from Monmouth County, who sent punks aflame when singing in Bleeding Knees from ’87 to ’89. As a ‘90s solo artist, she ruled Asbury Park, sharing stages with Jewel, Concrete Blonde and the late Jeff Buckley. She covered Melanie’s “Lay Down (Candles In The Rain)” to support local charities during COVID. She got her Masters Degree in Music Technology at Southern Utah University.
Mansfield plays every instrument on her dreamy take of this standard. She produced, arranged, mixed, engineered and mastered the song. “I wanted to approach this song in a way that felt intimate, atmospheric, and distinctly my own,” says Mansfield. “The original has such a timeless emotional quality, and I wanted to explore that feeling through a more dreamlike and alternative sound.”
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