Killing Me Softly with His Song

"Killing Me Softly with His Song"
Song
B-side	"Just Like a Woman"

"Killing Me Softly with His Song"
Song

"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. It has been covered by numerous artists, most notably by Roberta Flack, whose version topped the U.S. pop singles charts, and won a Grammy Award and The Fugees, whose rendition charted at number two, contributing to their Grammy Award-winning album, The Score.

Origins

Norman Gimbel explains the genesis of the writing of the song "Killing Me Softly With His Song" as follows:

I came to California in the mid-sixties. I was introduced to the Argentinean born composer named Lalo Shifrin (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."

According to Lori Lieberman, the artist who performed the original recording, the song was born of a poem she wrote after experiencing a strong reaction to a Don McLean concert. She related this to Gimbel, who took her feelings and put them into words. Then, Gimbel passed the words on to Fox, who set them to music.

Song and cover versions

Roberta Flack version

Lori Lieberman was the first to record Fox and Gimbel's song, in 1971. It became a bigger hit when covered by Roberta Flack in 1973. Her version won three Grammy Awards: Song of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance by a Female Performer and it was number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for 4 weeks. It was replaced by "Love Train" by The O'Jays, then returned to the top of the U.S. charts for another week.

In 1999 Flack's version was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It also ranked #360 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time and #82 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.

The Fugees version

Hip hop group the Fugees covered the song in 1996 on their album The Score, with Lauryn Hill singing the lead vocals. Their version, titled "Killing Me Softly," became a hit, reaching number two on the U.S. airplay chart, and had similar success in the UK, reaching number one, becoming 1996's best selling single in the country. The version sampled the 1990 song "Bonita Applebum" by A Tribe Called Quest from their debut album People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm. ATCQ themselves had sampled the riff from the song "Memory Band" found on the self-titled album of a little-known 1960s psychedelic soul Chicago band called Rotary Connection. The Fugees single was so successful that the track was 'deleted' and thus no longer supplied to retailers whilst the track was still in the Top 20 so that attention could be drawn to the next single 'Ready or Not'. Propelled by the success of the Fugees track, the version by Flack was remixed in 1996 and topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart. In 2008, it was ranked number 25 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop and #44 on its list of the "100 Greatest Songs of the 90s".

Tracklisting

UK CD1

1. "Killing Me Softly" (Album Version W/Out Intro) - 4:03
2. "Killing Me Softly" (Album Instrumental) - 4:03
3. "Cowboys" (Album Version) - 3:35
4. "Nappy Heads" (Remix) - 3:49

UK CD2

1. "Killing Me Softly" (Album Version With Intro) - 4:16
2. "Fu-Gee-La" (Refugee Camp Global Mix) - 4:15
3. "Vocab" (Refugees Hip Hop Mix) - 4:07
4. "Vocab" (Salaam's Acoustic Remix) - 5:54

Other versions

Other major artists to cover the song include Cleo Laine, Blossom Dearie, Al B. Sure!,, Carole King, Herb Alpert, Engelbert Humperdinck, Tori Amos, Alison Moyet, Eva Cassidy, Perry Como, Harry Connick, Jr., The Jackson 5, Mina, Anne Murray, Sérgio Mendes & Brasil '77, Luther Vandross, Colbie Caillat, Susan Boyle, Toni Braxton, Céline Dion, Alicia Keys, Anastacia, Jaco Pastorius, The Plain White T's, The Youngblood Brass Band, Shirley Bassey, John Holt, Vicki Lawrence, Usha Uthup, Gene Pitney, Allison Iraheta, Eva Avila and the Singers Unlimited, The Ventures, The Undisputed Truth. Versions performed by male artists reverse the gender pronouns (with the exception of Luther Vandross).

In 1975, an instrumental version of "Killing Me Softly" served as the main musical theme of the film The Drowning Pool, starring Paul Newman. Charles Fox received credit as composer and conductor.

R&B artist Al B. Sure was the next to cover the song in 1988 on his debut album In Effect Mode... and experienced some success with it. He was voted the top new Male R&B solo artist in 1989.

A Eurodance version was covered by Brazilian singer Regina Saraiva in 1996. This version went on to be a club hit across Europe.

A live instrumental version was recorded by Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers in 1998.

In 2009, Susan Boyle, an amateur singer who quickly rose to fame on the internet and in the news media after her appearance on Britain's Got Talent in 2009, used "all her savings" to pay for a professionally cut demo tape, which she later sent to record companies, radio talent competitions, local and national TV and which has now been released on the Internet. It consisted of "Cry Me a River" and her version of "Killing Me Softly with His Song". Boyle gave away a few copies to her close friends.

In 2002, Kimberly Caldwell performed the song during the second season of American Idol.

Urban jazz/R&B bassist Marcus Miller covered the song live on two of his albums, the first being The Ozell Tapes: The Official Bootleg (2003), and the second is Master of All Trades (2007) with special guest Roberta Flack.

In 2008, saxophonist Jazz Hamilton cover the melody on the album My Soul as a Smooth Latin Jazz Ballad.

The song was covered by Paije Richardson during the first live show of the 2010 UK X Factor.

In popular culture

• The song was prominently featured in the 2002 film About a Boy in which the boy of the title, Marcus, is ridiculed by classmates for singing the song, a favourite of his mother's, at his school talent show because of its feminine associations and its romantic, emotional lyrics. This particular scene in the feature sets a very emotional structure for the film.

Cover versions in other languages

Country	Artist	Title	Translated title	Lyrics by
Sweden	Lill Lindfors (1973), Lotta Engberg (1997)	"Sången han sjöng var min egen"	"The song he sang was my own"
Norway	Inger Lise Rypdal	"Sangen han sang var min egen"	"The song he sang was my own"
Denmark	Sanne Salomonsen	"Søgte mit indre"	"Sought my innermost"
Denmark	Clemens	"Flammende Oprør" (Rap containing samples from Sanne Salomonsen "Søgte mit indre")	"Flaming rebellion"
Italy	Marcella Bella (1973), Lara Saint Paul (1973), Ornella Vanoni (1973)	"Mi fa morire cantando"	"He kills me singing"
Estonia	Els Himma (1974)	"Millest sa elad ja hingad"	"Of what you live and breathe"	Vally Ojavere
Brazil	Joanna (1991)	"Morrendo de amor"	"Dying of love"
Brazil	Zezé Di Camargo (1986)	"Faz eu perder o juízo"	"Makes me lose my mind"	Alf Soares
Mexico	Pandora	"Mátame muy suavemente"	"Kill me very softly"
Japan	Mariko Takahashi, AI, Misato Watanabe, Saori Minami	"Yasashiku Utatte"	"Sing to me tenderly"
Argentina	Sergio Denis	"Matándome suavemente"	"Killing me softly"
Spain	Tino Casal	"Tal como soy"	"The way I am"
Spain	Pitingo	"Suavemente me matas con tu canción"	"You kill me softly with your song"
Germany	Manuela	"Etwas in mir wurde traurig"	"Something inside me became sad"
Czech Republic	Helena Vondráčková (1974)	"Dvě malá křídla tu nejsou"	"Two little wings are not here"	Zdeněk Borovec
Finland	Päivi Paunu (1973)	"Jokainen päivä on liikaa"	"Every day is too much"
Poland	Anna Jantar	"Zabijasz mnie swoją piosenką"	"You're killing me with your song"
France	Gilbert Montagné	"Elle chantait ma vie en musique"	"She was singing my life in music"
Cuba	Omara Portuondo (2006)	"Matándome suavemente"	"Killing me softly"
Vietnam	Khánh Hà , Thùy Hương	"Nỗi Đau Dịu Dàng"	"Soft pain"
Vietnam	Thuy Chi ft. Vuong Khang	"Lac Loi"	"Lost Along The Way"
Greece	Marina Adamopoulou (1974), Aleka Kannelidou (1981)	"Τ' Αγόρι" (1974), "Πόσο γλυκά με σκοτώνεις" (1981)	"The Boy", "How sweetly you kill me"	Dimitris Iatropoulos
Bulgaria	Yordanka Hristova (1973)	"Всичко започна през юни"	"It all started in June"	Hr. Platov
Netherlands	De Foetsies (1996)	"Hij maakte me gek (...met z'n vingers)"	"He made me crazy (...with his fingers)"

See also

Charts on which "Killing Me Softly" reached number one

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1970s
• List of number-one singles in 1973 (New Zealand)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 1973 (U.S.)

• List of number-one singles in Australia during the 1990s
• List of number-one hits of 1996 (Austria)
• List of Dutch Top 40 number-one singles of 1996
• List of European number-one hits of 1996
• List of number-one hits of 1996 (France)
• List of number-one singles of 1996 (Ireland)
• List of number-one singles in 1996 (New Zealand)
• List of number-one singles from the 1990s (UK)
• List of number-one dance singles of 1996 (U.S.)
• List of Mainstream Top 40 number-one hits of 1996 (U.S.)
• List of Rhythmic Top 40 number-one singles of 1996 (U.S.)