But first, I want to express my unconditional love of Ms. Lauryn Hill. I can look past all of the tax evasion drama and paranoia/reclusive weirdness of recent years for a single reason: that voice. No one in all of pop music had/has the clarity and control of Hill. She was one of the few vocalists of that era who could be soulful and riveting without having to resort to gimmicky vocal acrobatics. She also proved that she could interpret any song and make it completely hers.
Incidentally, "Killing Me Softly" was not supposed to have been an all-out cover of the tune that singer Roberta Flack first made famous. The Fugees' intent was to record a track for 1996's The Score called "Killing Them Softly," which sampled/replayed elements of the original. Problem was, the song's composers Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel (also famous for writing themes to T.V. shows, including Laverne & Shirley and Happy Days) refused to give The Fugees permission to sample the song. They did, however, encourage the group to cover it.
And it's a gutsy cover. The majority of the song is just Hill, singing a cappella, over a hypnotic beat. It's so spare and pure that it feels as if you're hearing her inner monologue. Seems like an unlikely formula for a hit, but I think the emotionally bare, intensely personal feel to the track resonated with people around the world.
Even months before it became a massive hit for the group, my friends and I were playing the hell out of the song in our cars, on school trips, at each other's houses...
It was playing on my Discman the first time my friends and I ever saw the skyline of New York from a plane.
It was playing on the way to our senior prom.
It was playing at my graduation party, when it hit us that we probably wouldn't be able to hang out like that again.
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