From sweet and smooth classics, to new names, to old names with new music...the focus here, is to shine a little light on some damn fine music.

I'll find it. You can listen, review, or tell me I wouldn't know good music if it kicked me in the ass. I personally don't give a shit.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Singing My Life With His Words


"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"



On this day forty years ago, the song that hit number one on the charts summed up everything I felt about hearing live music. From getting lost in the melody to relating my life to the lyrics, it all comes together when you are watching a band and hearing a song flow from a talented singer. For me, it's as close to heaven as I may ever be.

The song I heard forty years ago was "Killing Me Softly" sung elegantly by Roberta Flack. Composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel it was originally recorded by Lori Leiberman in 1971. It was on an airplane flight that Flack heard the Lieberman version and was so moved by the song, she wrote down as much as she could about the lyrics and melody. Upon landing she contacted Quincy Jones to ask him to arrange a meeting with the composers about recording the song.

It was released in January 1973, hit the top of the charts March 15 and was the number one record for five non-consecutive weeks. Roberta Flack won the 1973 Grammy for Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer and Song of the Year. The song is in the Grammy Hall of Fame and is listed in both Rolling Stone's and Billboard's top songs of all time. In 1996, Lauryn Hill and The Fugees covered the song and once again the song was a hit on the charts.

Most people like music, some love it and then some of us live inside it. We can relate days, months and years of our lives through it. We can get through a bad day if we hear the right song, and we can cry tears of joy when a lyric or a melody seeps into your soul and flows through your veins.

That is what I feel listening to this 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"

And the Fugees cover.
Composed by Charles Fox and written by Norman Gimbel. All rights reserved
© Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music


 .
Posted by at
Labels: , , , ,

6 comments:

  1. Teen LMarch 15, 2013 at 10:12 AM

    Perfect choice for today...xo

    ReplyDelete
  2. Kat's TheoryMarch 15, 2013 at 10:19 AM

    so glad you enjoyed.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GMarch 15, 2013 at 10:40 AM

    Amen to that sister ... how do lyrics just seem to fit at any given moment? Love the juxtaposition of the elegance of Roberta with the flow of the Fugees - nice choice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Kat's TheoryMarch 15, 2013 at 10:54 AM

      I don't know how it does, just glad that it always seems to find us when we need it. Happy you approve, nice to have you back hanging around the neighborhood.

      Delete
  4. AnonymousMarch 15, 2013 at 11:51 AM

    I was very young when I first heard this, and I believe it could very well be the first (or second) song I ever found myself crying to.

    Still do, from time to time, in fact.

    Thank you for sharing it today!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)