I felt all flushed with fever, embarrassed by the crowd/
I felt he’d found my letters and read each one out loud.
“Killing Me Softly” has a somewhat similar theme to Superstar by The Carpenters. Roberta Flack sings about her experience seeing a singer at a concert and being blown away by his talent. His art speaks to her. It feels like, “He’d found my letters and read each one out loud”. Great line. The music hits her so hard she feels flushed. She feels a personal connection. As the song concludes she realizes that their “connection” is very one-sided. The artist looks right past her. Obviously.
That one-way connection between artist and fan is unique. In my opinion it is probably best not to seek to reach out to establish a connection with a celebrity you admire. 99 times out of 100 it will end in disappointment, as is the case here. And something you love (their work) might be diminished due to your perfectly rational response of disappointment.
The melody of “Killing Me Softly” coupled with Flack’s amazing vocal performance make this song great. Flack sings it like a love song—which it is, in a sense. Lori Lieberman also has a beautiful version of the song. She was the first to record it and there seems to be some controversy regarding whether she co-wrote the song upon seeing Don Mclean perform.
Killing Me Softly Lyrics
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
But he just came to 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