Killing Me Softly
Roberta Flack
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Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song I heard he sang a good song, I heard he had a style And so I came to see him, To listen for a while And there he was this young boy, A stranger to my eyes Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song I felt all flushed with fever, Embarrassed by the crowd I felt he found my letters, And read each one out loud I prayed that he would finish, But he just kept right on Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song He sang as if he knew me, In all my dark despair And then he looked right through me, As if I wasn't there And he just kept on singing, Singing clear and strong Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song Strumming my pain with his fingers Singing my life with his words Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me He was strumming my pain Yeah, he was singing my life Killing me softly with his song Killing me softly with his song Telling my whole life with his words Killing me softly with his song
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Written by: Norman Gimbel, Charles Fox
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
10 facts about this song
Song Origin"Killing Me Softly" was originally written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox in 1971, inspired by a poem Lori Lieberman wrote after seeing a performance by Don McLean.
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First RecordingLori Lieberman was the first to record the song in 1971 for her album "Lori Lieberman".
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Breakthrough CoverThe biggest hit version of the song was covered by Roberta Flack in 1973. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks and won the Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
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Fugees VersionThe Fugees' version, released in 1996, won the 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. It catapulted the band to international fame.
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Music VideoThe music video directed by Aswad Ayinde earned the Fugees an MTV Music Video Award.
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Lieberman ControversyThere was a controversy regarding the song's inspiration. While Lori Lieberman always maintained that she inspired the song, songwriters Gimbel and Fox publicly disputed this claim, stating that they wrote the song before presenting it to Lieberman.
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Cultural ImpactContrasting the Roberta Flack version and the Fugees cover shows cultural shifts in music. While Flack’s version is a simple, piano-driven ballad, the Fugees’ take is a blend of hip-hop and soul, reflecting the rise of hip-hop culture in the 90s.
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Re-imagining the SongThe Fugees' version uses a sample from the song "Bonita Applebum" by A Tribe Called Quest, offering a more layered and textured interpretation which differed greatly from the version Roberta Flack performed.
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Film featureThe Roberta Flack's version of "Killing Me Softly" has been featured in many movies, like "About a Boy" in 2002 and "Invincible" in 2006.
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Lieberman's ReactionLori Lieberman was so moved and shocked when she heard the Fugees’ rendition of her song in the '90s, that she had to pull the car over to the side of the road.
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Citation
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