killing me softly with his song

The Fugees had their biggest hit with this slice of American pie. The composers of "Killing Me Softly with His Song", Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel refused to allow the Fugees to do a rewrite of the song; but gave them permission to cover it. For their recording, the Fugees sampled 'Bonita Applebum' by A Tribe Called Quest, which had sampled the riff from 'Memory Band' by psychedelic soul band Rotary Connection. It became the second single from their final album 'The Score' and shot to number two on the US pop chart and number one in the UK where it was the biggest single of that year. It also won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by Duo or group.

Norman Gimbel recounts the genesis of the song: "I came to California in the mid-sixties. I was introduced to the Argentinean born composer named Lalo Schifrin (then of 'Mission Impossible' fame). I ended up writing songs to a number of his motion pictures. I suggested we write a Broadway Musical together. He gave me an Argentinean novel translated into English from the Spanish to read as a possible idea. Suffice it to say, we never made a musical from the book -- but in one of the chapters, the principal character describes himself as sitting alone in a bar drinking and listening to an American pianist "Killing me softly with his blues". I put it in my "idea" book for use at a future time with a parenthesis around the word "blues" and substituted the word "song" instead. Many years later, Lori Lieberman saw Don McLean in concert. I then wrote the lyric and gave it to Charles Fox to set to music."









http://www.thefugees.com/

Fugees - Killing Me Softly by hushhush112

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

And 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

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

Roberta Flack's version was a number one hit in 1973. It won three Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer.