Hip hop group The Fugees covered the song in 1996 on their album The Score, with Lauryn Hill singing the lead vocals. Their version became a massive hit reaching number two on the U.S. airplay chart, and had similar success in the UK, reaching number one and selling over a million copies, becoming 1996's best selling single in the country. Propelled by the success of the Fugees track, the version by Flack was remixed in 1996 and topped the Hot Dance Club Play chart. The Fugees version of the song is on the game Karaoke Revolution Volume 3. In 2008, it was ranked number 25 on VH1's 100 Greatest Songs of Hip Hop.
Other major artists to cover the song include Carol King, Herb Alpert, Engelbert Humperdinck, Frank Sinatra, Tori Amos, Alison Moyet, Eva Cassidy, Perry Como, The Jackson 5, Mina, Anne Murray, Luther Vandross, Toni Braxton, Alicia Keys, Jaco Pastorius, The Plain White T's, The Youngblood Brass Band, Shirley Bassey, John Holt and Usha Uthup.
Killing Me Softly with His Song
Fugees Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
(Ha) (yo) (yeah yeah)
This is Wyclef, Refugee Camp (L-Boogie up in here)
Praswell (Praswell up in here, haha)
Lil' Base sittin' up here on the bass (Refugees up in here)
While I'm on this, I got my girl L (ah, ah)
One time (one time), one time (one time)
Ayo, L, you know you got the lyrics
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, stranger to my eyes
Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time)
Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)
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'd 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 (one time, one time)
Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)
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
Yo, L-Boog, take me to the bridge
Whoa
Woah-oah-ah-ah-ah uh, uh
La-la-la, la, la, la
Whoa, la
Whoa, la (ha, ha, ha, ha)
La-ah-ah-ah-ah
Strumming my pain with his fingers (yes, he was singing my life)
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 (whole life, with his words)
Killing me softly with his song
Yo, put your hands together for L-Boogie (strumming my pain)
From the Refugee Camp (yeah, yeah)
(Singing my life) up in here, you know how we do, L-Boogie up in here
Wyclef, Praswell, said L-Boogie up in here
Wyclef up in here
My man Lil' Base (Praswell up in here)
Jerry one time
T Rocks up in here, we got Warren up in here
This is how we (Warren up, up in here, Outsiders up here)
We got Fallon up in here, Mulaney, Mulaney's up in here
(Refugee Camp, Refugee Camp, yeah)
Everybody got a breakin' point kid
And they'll rat on you
The family niggas will rat on you
That's why we gotta be prepared to take whoever out we need to
The Fugees song Killing Me Softly with His Song is a powerful ballad that captures the overwhelming experience of hearing a song that seems to speak directly to your deepest emotions. The song captures the feeling of being completely absorbed in music, as if the singer is telling your life story with every note they sing. The lyrics talk about a young boy who the singer had heard about as someone who sang a good song and had a style. Curious about his music, she goes to see him perform and is completely taken over by the music he creates. The singer describes feeling like the boy is singing her life story and telling it to the world. She is overcome with emotion and describes feeling flushed and embarrassed by the crowd.
The chorus of the song repeats the line “Killing me softly with his song,” emphasizing the overwhelming feelings the music evokes. The bridge of the song is a repetition of “Whoa” and “La” sounds, intensifying the overwhelming emotional and sensory experience of the performance. The final lines of the song express the idea that everyone has a breaking point, and that sometimes people can’t be trusted. This adds a darker, more complex interpretation of the idea of being “killed softly” by music and suggests that there can be consequences to getting too lost in emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
Strumming my pain with his fingers
He is playing a tune on his guitar that hits me personally and reminds me deeply of my pain
Singing my life with his words
The melody, lyrics, and rhythm of his song are so fused together that his words resonate on a personal, intimate level with me and accurately reflect my struggles and emotions
Killing me softly with his song
His performance and the lyrics are so intense and powerful the impact it has on my emotions, it's like it's slowly killing me inside, cathartically revealing all my deepest feelings
Telling my whole life with his words
He is disclosing even the most intimate and private aspects of my life and struggles that i find difficult to confront with others, but his song allowed me to say it out loud to myself.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Norman Gimbel, Charles Fox
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@anabeatrizbauer1332
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
This is Wyclef, Refugee Camp (L-Boogie up in here)
Praswell (Praswell up in here, haha)
Lil' Base sittin' up here on the bass (Refugees up in here)
While I'm on this, I got my girl L (ah, ah)
One time (one time), one time (one time)
Ayo, L, you know you got the lyrics
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, stranger to my eyes
Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time)
Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)
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'd 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 (one time, one time)
Singing my life with his words (two times, two times)
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
Yo, L-Boog, take me to the bridge
Whoa
Woah-oah-ah-ah-ah uh, uh
La-la-la, la, la, la
Whoa, la
Whoa, la (ha, ha, ha, ha)
La-ah-ah-ah-ah
Strumming my pain with his fingers (yes, he was singing my life)
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 (whole life, with his words)
Killing me softly with his song
Yo, put your hands together for L-Boogie (strumming my pain)
From the Refugee Camp (yeah, yeah)
(Singing my life) up in here, you know how we do, L-Boogie up in here
Wyclef, Praswell, said L-Boogie up in here
Wyclef up in here
My man Lil' Base (Praswell up in here)
Jerry one time
T Rocks up in here, we got Warren up in here
This is how we (Warren up, up in here, Outsiders up here)
We got Fallon up in here, Mulaney, Mulaney's up in here
(Refugee Camp, Refugee Camp, yeah)
Everybody got a breakin' point kid
And they'll rat on you
The family niggas will rat on you
That's why we gotta be prepared to take whoever out we need to
@gina-lynconel4664
2024 anyone?
@user-ri6yt5qg4k
Я слушаю 2 января 2024!
@franceniaalexander512
Mee 💪🏽💪🏽forever classic
@jazminfigueroa5550
🙋🏻♀️
@szandra9251
🙋
@choolwe5965
Right here
@painfulburitto3606
No one:
Sangwoo: 🔪🤛🏻👁👄⬛
@painfulburitto3606
Sangwoo and his missing eye - 🥵
@seven8962
BAHAHA 😭😭😭
He really said ⚱
@claude.5594
The pfp—