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Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face

DigiTrad:
THE FIRST TIME


Related threads:
(origins) Origins: The First Time (Ever) - MacColl (37)
Ewan MacColl in the new Private Eye (5)
(origins) Origins: First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (71)
Did Ewan Maccoll sing The First Time (46)
Lyr/Chords Req: The First Time Ever I...(MacColl) (18)
Lyr Req: The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (22)


GUEST,Meg 28 Jan 02 - 03:22 PM
nutty 28 Jan 02 - 03:27 PM
Malcolm Douglas 28 Jan 02 - 03:34 PM
GUEST,ghost 28 Jan 02 - 04:00 PM
Clinton Hammond 28 Jan 02 - 04:59 PM
GUEST,Meg 28 Jan 02 - 06:37 PM
Clinton Hammond 28 Jan 02 - 06:38 PM
Pterry 28 Jan 02 - 06:59 PM
Noreen 28 Jan 02 - 07:35 PM
Deckman 28 Jan 02 - 11:50 PM
GUEST,Boab 29 Jan 02 - 01:08 AM
The Shambles 29 Jan 02 - 02:57 AM
Rolfyboy6 29 Jan 02 - 03:10 AM
Clinton Hammond 29 Jan 02 - 03:11 AM
Mark Cohen 29 Jan 02 - 03:39 AM
GUEST,Meg 29 Jan 02 - 03:47 PM
Pterry 29 Jan 02 - 05:59 PM
Susanne (skw) 29 Jan 02 - 07:00 PM
GUEST,Boab 29 Jan 02 - 09:09 PM
dick greenhaus 29 Jan 02 - 11:56 PM
Genie 30 Jan 02 - 12:03 AM
Clinton Hammond 30 Jan 02 - 12:05 AM
Mark Cohen 30 Jan 02 - 12:48 AM
Mark Cohen 30 Jan 02 - 01:34 AM
Clinton Hammond 30 Jan 02 - 02:41 AM
The Shambles 30 Jan 02 - 02:41 AM
Mr Red 30 Jan 02 - 01:00 PM
Clinton Hammond 30 Jan 02 - 01:45 PM
Wolfgang 31 Jan 02 - 05:07 AM
GUEST 22 Nov 10 - 07:00 AM
autoharpbob 22 Nov 10 - 07:16 AM
GUEST,Desi C 22 Nov 10 - 09:00 AM
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Subject: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Meg
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 03:22 PM

Hi all people I'm looking for the lyrics to this song. I've got a version of June Tabor singing it, but if anyone knows who did it first it would also be a real help. I've tried searching the DT, but can't find anything, maybe because the words are all very common. (Try hunting through pages of songs that contain the word 'the.' Fool that I am!) Megan (An aspiring folk singer)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: nutty
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 03:27 PM

It was there Meg but you need to learn how to look. Stick around and you will learn what a wonderful resource it is. Good luck with the singing

The First Time Ever


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Malcolm Douglas
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 03:34 PM

Only use the "Lyrics Search" in emergencies: the "Digitrad and Forum Search" is far more powerful, and searches the Forum where most songs are posted.  A search for, for example, ever i saw your face will return a previous discussion where the lyric was posted at the head of a list of references.  If you really have to use "the", put the phrase in parentheses (D&FS) or square brackets (LS) to indicate that you're looking for a phrase rather than every reference to each word!!  The FAQ will tell you more.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,ghost
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 04:00 PM

Sawry, I don't know the words but I've been meanin' to work this one up on my saw. It's hard to find songs with the word 'saw' in the title but I think this might be a good one. The first time ever I sawwwwed yer face...


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 04:59 PM

"The first time ever I kissed your mouth"

Is it just me, or does 'lips' not scan a hell of a lot better than 'mouth' in that line? The assonance with kissed and lips is nice too eh...


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Meg
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 06:37 PM

Thanks everyone. I didn't know there was a forum search option, but I'll try that next time. Folk singing is going better now I know some words! ;)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 06:38 PM

Baaah... words... ya don't need words to be a folk singer...

.-)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Pterry
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 06:59 PM

Just as a matter of interest, have any of you ever heard the ALison Moyet Version of this song?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Noreen
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 07:35 PM

Megan, for some background, click on these two old threads:Lyr/Chords Req: The first Time - that ever I

Good luck with the singing.

Noreen


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Deckman
Date: 28 Jan 02 - 11:50 PM

Hey Meg ... Want a free tip? "Never let the words get in the way of the song!" Cheers and Good Luck, Bob


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 01:08 AM

A beautiful song [ I haven't used it---don't think I could do justice--] written by Ewen MacColl for Peggy S..


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: The Shambles
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 02:57 AM

I am not too sure that Ewan MacColl's influence was entirely a good thing but he did write some fine songs, this being one of the finest.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Rolfyboy6
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 03:10 AM

Nina Simone's version is really fine too. Beautifully understated and underplayed with a powerful result.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 03:11 AM

Was this not also a song used in commercials for long distance phone service at one point???

Or did I dream that??


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 03:39 AM

Rolfyboy, I believe you're thinking of Roberta Flack, whose version of "First Time" is magnificent. I don't think Nina Simone recorded it. And thanks for those links, Noreen, I was about to say the same thing all over again and repeat myself one more time.

Aloha,
Mark


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Meg
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 03:47 PM

I was about to say I didn't think Nina Simone had done it, when I saw someone had got there before me.
As you're all so nice, by the way, I think I'll read the rules and join. You should be salespeople ;)
Megan
*finger in ear*


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Pterry
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 05:59 PM

Nina's version is good but really, try and hear Alison Moyets version.It really will be worth your trouble. Pterry


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Susanne (skw)
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 07:00 PM

Clinton, you dreamt the long distance phone service but not the advertising jingle - it was for Oil of Ulay. Or maybe there has been another one? (See my posting in the first link thoughtfully provided by Noreen above.)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Boab
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 09:09 PM

"Dirty Old Town", "Sweet Thames", 'Thirty Foot Trailer" "The First Time"------Shambles,---why do you think Ewen MacColl's influence "wasn't entirely a good thing"?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: dick greenhaus
Date: 29 Jan 02 - 11:56 PM

Malcolm (and others):

If you use the Lyrics Search, and are looking for a phrase, enclose that phrase with square brackets. Otherwise, you'll get a hit on every entry that contains all the words in that phrase, regardless of position or order. A search for: "first time ever" (without the quotes)will get you a lot of irrelevant hits, while a search on [first time ever] will result in one hit--the one you want. The advantage of the Lyrics Search is that it doesn't drop common words like "the" "and" "A" etc.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Genie
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 12:03 AM

Clinton,
I guess it's just a matter of taste, but. to me, "mouth" is a much more sensuous image than "lips." "Lips" is kinda delicate; "mouth" is earthy and visceral.

Anyway, that's my 2% of $1.

Genie


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 12:05 AM

THat's not what I was talking about Genie... I just mean it scans better... fits better in the line... The word mouth in that line, seems to stick out like a sore thumb...

The image is really 6 of one, to me...


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 12:48 AM

Clinton, my opinion is that "mouth" is a much better word here, for a number of reasons--not the least of which is that the kind of kiss he's probably talking about involves much more than the lips...! By the way, I believe "scan" is generally used to refer how stressed and unstressed syllables are arranged in a line of poetry--so in that sense, both words "scan". You're probably talking about the sound of the word within the line, and I think I understand what you mean. But I suspect image and meaning won out over sound in this case. For me, at least, "mouth" makes the line much more powerful. In fact, maybe that's in part because it doesn't "fit" into the line quite as well, and so the image becomes even stronger. I wonder if "lips" might not have been in the first draft, though. Fascinating.

Aloha,
Mark


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Mark Cohen
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 01:34 AM

And Meg, welcome to the Mudcat! Joining is easy, and it's 100% free, and spam-free too. And for all the hooha about how the 'Cat isn't what it used to be and everybody's all bitter and nasty....it's threads like this that keep me here, and loving it.

Aloha,
Mark


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 02:41 AM

Well, -I'm- gonna keep singing 'lips' cause -I- like it better!

LOL!!!!!


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: The Shambles
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 02:41 AM

"Dirty Old Town", "Sweet Thames", 'Thirty Foot Traier------Shambles,---why do you think Ewen MacColl's influence "wasn't entirely a good thing"?

Partly because the first time he saw Peggy's face, he and following his example, most of his audience would have had their fingers stuck firmly in their ears.

I think his influence was partly to blame for the lasting intolerant UK attitude, about the right way to do things, and in creating many of the stereotypes that still make the music a joke, in most people's eyes.

I did say he was a fine writer.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Mr Red
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 01:00 PM

Clinton
"The first time ever I kissed your mouth" should be more dissonant, it is a disassociation in what could become a matrix of smaltz. For me it is its ugliness that works. He is hinting at the obverse of his already stated admiration - lust. We're talking tongues here (sic). If you are writing a love song to your future wife and only have that 7 minute transatlantic telephone conversation in which to do it (even if you are a skilled practioner) it is gonna come out as it is, not as the rules say it should be. Call me a pleb but "warts and all" is just fine by me. Emphasize it I say, just like Nina Simone did.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Clinton Hammond
Date: 30 Jan 02 - 01:45 PM

Well, maybe I'm just too much of a romantic or something...

I also prefer Garnets rewrtite of Lui Collins lyrics in the song "The Enfolding"

He sings "as I cradle you in my arms" where she sings "As I cradle you in my loins" and I think her version RUINS her own song...

It does for me anyway...

I surely don't go to folk music for explicit sexual content... have you SEEN these folkies?? I don't even wanna think about them having sex!

Brrrrrrr!

For that I'll stick to MTV and hard core porn... leave my my illusions eh!

LOL!!!!!

.-)


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: Wolfgang
Date: 31 Jan 02 - 05:07 AM

Dick's advice about phrases is good, in general, but not in this case. Try the phrase [saw your face] and you'll get no hit though the phrase is in the DT. The culprit is 'face' for the DT lyrics search finds no word starting with 'fa*' up to the letter m.

Wolfgang


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 07:00 AM

FWIW
when I first heard it, I was under the impression it was Nina Simone. Here in the UK at least. And it certainly sounded like her voice as I recall. And I did buy one of her records before FTEISYF.


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: autoharpbob
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 07:16 AM

Anyone notice that when this song was performed on X-factor it was introduced as part of "American Anthem" week, and said to be BY Roberta Flack?


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Subject: RE: Lyr Req: First time ever I saw your face
From: GUEST,Desi C
Date: 22 Nov 10 - 09:00 AM

If you put the writers name Ewan McColl's name in a net search and the song title you'll get the full words. He told the story on Folk on " in the early 80's of how he wrote it, he was on a long distance phone call to Peggy Seeger, later to becomev his wife. she was about to do a TV show and needed a ballad. He already had some words in his head, and said he'd call her back. He then scribbled the words on the back of a Park drive cigarette packet and dictated them to her. Peggy Seeger was the first to record it, much more Folky different style to the hit version


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