Killing Me Softly With His Song

By Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel
1971

With the death late last month of Norman Gimbel, prominent lyricist of the 1950s-1970s, let's take a look at one of his most successful and controversial creations. The generation of "Killing Me Softly", one of the '70s most hypnotic and poignant ballads, is fraught with conflict: Singer-songwriter Lori Lieberman recorded the original version, claiming to have based it on a poem she wrote after being moved by a concert performance by Don McLean, which she then brought to Fox and Gimbel to turn into a song. Fox and Gimbel would later claim to have written the song with little input from Lieberman, and that McLean had nothing to do with it. This heated debate continued right up to Gimbel's death, with McLean recently reporting that he received a cease and desist letter from the lyricist regarding McLean's claims that the song was inspired by him. McLean maintains his version of the story to this day. Meanwhile, the most successful version would be recorded in 1973 by Roberta Flack, who took it all the way to number one for over a month.

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'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
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

Recorded By:

Johnny Mathis
Perry Como
The Fugees
Anne Murray
Shirley Bassey

The Girl from Ipanema

By Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius de Moraes & Norman Gimbel
1962

A beautiful song unfairly twisted by the rock-obsessed baby boomer generation into the epitome of elevator music, Jobim's greatest hit is anything but dull. A breathtaking bossa nova tune inspired by a real-life girl Jobim and Moraes admired on the beach in Rio, it became an international smash hit and the famous Astrid Giberto recording won the Grammy in 1965. It was originally introduced by Pery Ribeiro, and English lyrics later added by Gimbel.

Lyrics:

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking.
And when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

When she walks she's like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle,
That when she passes, each one she passes goes, "Ahhh..."

Oh, but I watch her so sadly.
How can I tell her I love her?
Yes, I would give my heart gladly.
But each day when she walks to the sea,
She looks straight ahead, not at me.

Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking,
And when she passes, I smile, but she doesn't.
She just doesn't see.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Stan Getz
Lou Rawls
Peggy Lee
Ella Fitzgerald

Sway

By Pablo Beltran Ruiz & Norman Gimbel
1954

The mambo craze hit very big in the early 1950s, and this song was a direct product of it. Originally written by Mexican bandleader Ruiz in 1953, it had English lyrics added a year later by Gimbel--who would do the same for a number of Antonio Carlos Jobim tunes a decade later. The incomparable Dean Martin introduced the English version, transforming it instantly into the epitome of cool, with every artist who has attempted it since trying to equal his performance.

Lyrics:

When marimba rhythms start to play,

Dance with me, make me sway.
Like a lazy ocean hugs the shore,
Hold me close, sway me more.

Like a flower bending in the breeze,
Bend with me, sway with ease.
When we dance you have a way with me.
Stay with me, sway with me.

Other dancers may be on the floor,
Dear, but my eyes will see only you.
Only you have that magic technique;
When we sway, I go weak.

I can hear the sound of violins,
Long before it begins.
Make me thrill as only you know how,
Sway me smooth, sway me now.

Recorded By:

Ben E. King
Julie London
Bjork
Michael Buble
Perry Como

Meditation

By Antonio Carlos Jobim & Norman Gimbel
1962

Certainly not part of the Great American Songbook, but a classic pop standard nonetheless, as were most of the lush tunes composed by Jobim. A breezily tempoed example of his bossa nova style, it was first written as "Meditação", with original Portuguese lyrics by Newton Mendonça. Here are Gimbel's beautifully introspective English words...

Lyrics:

In my loneliness,
When you're gone and I'm all by myself,
And I need your caress,
I just think of you,
And the thought of you holding me near
Makes my loneliness soon disappear.

Though you're far away,
I have only to close my eyes
And you are back to stay.
I just close my eyes,
And the sadness that missing you brings
Soon is gone, and this heart of mine sings.

Yes, I love you so,
And that for me is all I need to know.
I will wait for you,
Till the sun falls from out of the sky,
For what else can I do?

I will wait for you,
Meditating how sweet life will be
When you come back to me.

Recorded By:

Frank Sinatra
Blossom Dearie
Doris Day
Tito Puente
Vic Damone