"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face": C/D, S/D

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impossibly sappy ersatz-folk song that calls to mind the guy with the lute in "animal house" or sublime romantic ballad?

and which of many interpretations do you prefer?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 04:45 (twenty-two years ago)

towards the end of the marcia griffiths version it gets kinda sublime.

― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 05:10 (twenty-two years ago)

i have to admit i find the melody kind of unwieldy

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 05:16 (twenty-two years ago)

the johnny cash version brought me to tears

― steeve mcqueen (steeve mcqueen), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 07:13 (twenty-two years ago)

Unwieldly is the word. It should be a beautiful song but something about it always makes me want to switch off or switch it off. Maybe it's the grammatically dubious title or the fac there's massive gaps between lines of the verse. The melody is not that interesting either.

― dog latin (dog latin), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 07:31 (twenty-two years ago)

PENTANGLE! (& what's dubious about the grammar?)

― bham, Tuesday, 18 May 2004 07:45 (twenty-two years ago)

"grammatically dubious "

not dubious, just self-consciously old-fashioned

(or is this some kind of adaptation of an older song? it sounds very 20th century in its melody--20th century struggling to evoke something older, without much success. i think it's this kind of thing that shirley collins was reacting to. and bob dylan too, in a way.)

― amateur!st (amateurist), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 08:06 (twenty-two years ago)

SEARCH: Coldcut's Journeys by DJ comp "70 Minutes of Madness" - it comes in as a nice little break...

― Rob Bolton (Rob Bolton), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 16:08 (twenty-two years ago)

The Cindytalk version.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 16:21 (twenty-two years ago)

wtf ROBERTA FLACK, people! Her version is in my lifetime top 20 ever ever ever and should be sought and not by any means destroyed by everybody.

― CharlieNo4 (Charlie), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 21:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Charlie is very OTM here.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 18 May 2004 21:17 (twenty-two years ago)

what about odb?

― robin (robin), Thursday, 20 May 2004 22:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I second the Johnny Cash version. Shattering.

― Ben Dot (1977), Thursday, 20 May 2004 22:43 (twenty-two years ago)

only version I've ever heard (I think) is Jimmy Castor's.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Thursday, 20 May 2004 22:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Wow! I assumed everyone just wasn't mentioning Roberta Flack because her classicness was a given.

― N. (nickdastoor), Thursday, 20 May 2004 22:47 (twenty-two years ago)

A bit on the sappy side for me.

Search: Ewan MacColl (Kirsty's dad - he wrote it y'know); Harry Belafonte (I haven't actually heard his version but it's got to be good, hasn't it?); Gordon Lightfoot; The Temptations; Mel Torme.

Destroy: apparantly the Steophonics have covered it. Again, I haven't heard it, but it must be crap surely?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 21 May 2004 07:20 (twenty-two years ago)

the gordon lightfoot version is really...florid (in his singing)

mel tormé?!?!

ewan maccoll--i'd like to read more about him. everything i've read about makes him sound like a total fuck.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 21 May 2004 08:58 (twenty-two years ago)

I am very keen on the Isaac Hayes version, instrumental on 5000 Volts of Stax (?), vocal on Live at the Sahara Tahoe.

― PJ Miller (PJ Miller), Friday, 21 May 2004 09:02 (twenty-two years ago)

ewan maccoll--i'd like to read more about him. everything i've read about makes him sound like a total fuck.

He does not come across as a likeable person, 'tis true

― Dadaismus (Dada), Friday, 21 May 2004 09:17 (twenty-two years ago)

Roberta Flacks version by far.

― Chris 'The Velvet Bingo' V (Chris V), Friday, 21 May 2004 10:15 (twenty-two years ago)

it's beautiful. very few verisons of it are bad coz it's such a good song. roberta flack's version is the best. this is the right answer.

― Dave Stelfox (Dave Stelfox), Friday, 21 May 2004 10:32 (twenty-two years ago)

"mel tormé?!?!"

Look, don't blame me, blame my mother, OK?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Friday, 21 May 2004 11:07 (twenty-two years ago)

nother vote for roberta flack

it...floats

― mullygrubber (gaz), Friday, 21 May 2004 11:24 (twenty-two years ago)

im listening to this now as its on my wedding cd. such a great song. and roberta is sex.

― Chris 'The Velvet Bingo' V (Chris V), Friday, 21 May 2004 11:45 (twenty-two years ago)

almost every time a song is used as an example of sappiness
I find myself siding with the sappy song instead of the people mocking it

see:
MC Hammer vs "Feelings"
stadium crowd vs "Loving You"
etc

what they're really saying is this makes us feel awkward
let's go back to feeling nothing, yay, phew...

― Paul (scifisoul), Friday, 21 May 2004 11:52 (twenty-two years ago)

to answer the question - the Play Misty For Me version

― Paul (scifisoul), Friday, 21 May 2004 12:34 (twenty-two years ago)

one month passes...

this song makes me think of une partie de campagne, and pauline kael's memorable description of sylvia bataille "trembling like a captured bird."

i have come around to liking roberta flack's version a lot, just one more step in my path to becoming dan perry.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 2 July 2004 02:23 (twenty-one years ago)

also i have problems with the other stuff on flack's first LP (the version i am listening to is signed by her!) but i have to say this: she made me hear the lyrics to "hey, that's no way to say goodbye" for the first time.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 2 July 2004 02:25 (twenty-one years ago)

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