This is a hauntingly beautiful song about introspection, specifically about looking back at a relationship that started bad and ended so poorly, that the narrator wants to go back to the very beginning and tell himself to not even travel down that road. I believe that the relationship started poorly because of the lines:
"Take me back to the night we met:When the night was full of terrors: And your eyes were filled with tears: When you had not touched me yet"
So, the first night was not a great start, but the narrator pursued the relationship and eventually both overcame the rough start to fall in love with each other:
"I had all and then most of you"
Like many relationships that turn sour, it was not a quick decline, but a gradual one where the narrator and their partner fall out of love and gradually grow apart
"Some and now none of you"
Losing someone who was once everything in your world, who you could confide in, tell your secrets to, share all the most intimate parts of your life, to being strangers with that person is probably one of the most painful experiences a person can go through. So Painful, the narrator wants to go back in time and tell himself to not even pursue the relationship.
This was the perfect song for "13 Reasons Why"
The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless skies, my love
To the dark and the endless skies
And the first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hand
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command, my love
That was there at my command, my love
And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last 'til the end of time my love
And it would last 'til the end of time
The first time ever I saw your face
Your face, your face, your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the endless skies, my love
To the dark and the endless skies
And the first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hand
Like the trembling heart of a captive bird
That was there at my command, my love
That was there at my command, my love
And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy would fill the earth
And last 'til the end of time my love
And it would last 'til the end of time
The first time ever I saw your face
Your face, your face, your face
Lyrics submitted by ~earthworm~
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face Lyrics as written by Ewan Maccoll
Lyrics © Royalty Network
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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This is the most beautiful song ever. :) Her voice is beautful,the arrangement and the intimate tone. All of it. :)
Absolutely beautiful.
Perfect melody, perfect instrumentation and perfect voice.
Possibly the most romantic song ever.
...and the soundtrack to my first threesome!
Hard to believe that there are so few comments about this song. This has to be one of the greatest love songs of all time. The pace of the song and emotion that Roberta puts into it is not something you will find in today's music.
roberta flack = amazing this song = brilliant
Have had the great privilege of seeing the songs subject, Peggy Seeger, singing it live.
@quester As Peggy Seeger sings it (and I think the original lyrics) the line is, "I thought our joy would fill the earth," rather than, "I knew our joy would fill the earth..." This one-word change makes it into a song looking back at a lost love. What amazing lyrics!
The perfect love song, charting the progress of a love that took over this person. Quite perfect. Although Roberta Flack sings this, it is equally applicable to both men and women.
The first time, ever I saw your face I thought the sun rose in your eyes And the moon and the stars Were the gifts you gave To the dark, and the endless skies
This is love at first sight is it not? She is dazzling, stunning as creation itself.
And the first time, ever I kissed your mouth I felt the earth move in my hands Like the trembling heart Of a captive bird That was there, at my command, my love
This is what love should be like. Yet so few of us would have experienced what has been conveyed in these lyrics. It's also about a power the singer has in this relationship and how he guards and treasures the most precious life in his hand .
And the first time, ever I lay with you I felt your heart so close to mine And I knew our joy Would fill the earth And last, til the end of time, my love
Enough said. Simply perfection.
The first time, ever I saw Your face, your face Your fa-ace, your face
Probably one of the greatest love songs ever...
@bearlyboo I totally agree
Timeless
My friend can't listen to this song without feeling tearful, and thinking of the special person she's always loved.
I remember reading that this song was written about the first time Roberta saw her beloved dog I can so relate
@lisa a.181 Cat, actually, but yeah.