Reading through my copy of "The Essential Ewan MacColl Songbook", I noticed that the music for one of my favourite songs, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", varied considerably from the tune that I thought I knew. I then viewed the Roberta Flack version on YouTube and heard, pretty much, the song I was familiar with. Not only had she changed at least one word in the first verse (To the dark and empty skies becomes To the dark and endless skies), but she seems to have taken considerable liberties with the melody. Checking other peoples versions, some seem to have the original " empty" while others perpetuate "endless".

As the book is the work of Peggy Seeger, the subject of the song, I take it that I have the authorised version. However , I would be prepared to bet that most people know the Roberta Flack version or something close to it, and would probably think that I was singing it wrong if I reproduced the original.

DC