Suddenly moved by a stranger and beautifully expressed.

Watch the karaoke version here.

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 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 ...

He sang as if he knew me in all my dark despair.
And then he looked right through me as if I wasn't there.
And he just kept on singing, singing clear and strong.

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 ...

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 ...

He was strumming, yeah, he was singing my life.
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 ...

STRUM= that’s what we do with the cords of a guitar when we’re playing it

FOR A WHILE= for some time (usually a short time)

MY WHOLE LIFE= all my life. The difference between "whole" and "all" is often only the order of the phrase. Articles and determinatives go after ALL but they go before WHOLE.

FLUSHED= with my face red (as when you’ve got a fever or feel embarrassed)

KEEP RIGHT ON= "Keep on" means "to continue". "Keep right on" is just emphasizing the idea of continuity. "Keep" or "Keep on" is followed by –ING (as in the verse "he just kept on singing").

LOOK RIGHT THROUGH SOMEONE= to look in your direction but ignoring you, as if their eyes were focused on a more distant place.

This song is autobiographic, it tells about a real experience. "Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a 1971 song composed by Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel. The song was inspired by a poem by Lori Lieberman, "Killing Me Softly with His Blues", which she wrote after seeing a then-unknown Don McLean perform the song "Empty Chairs" live. She felt so carried away that she was inspired and got a paper napkin to write a poem right there. "I was actually blasé about going," says Lieberman. "I didn't know who he was, but from the moment he walked on stage, I was spellbound. I felt as if he knew me and his songs were about my life. I felt like he sang into my soul." Originally called killing me softly with his blues, Lori's poem inspired songwriters Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox to write the song for her. It was released on her debut album in 1971.

Don McLean does not wear his glasses when performing, thus the line "he looked right through me as if I wasn't there". He later got famous with his hit "American Pie".