THERE'S no space in my life for musical absolutism.
Favourite albums, the top 10 concerts, the best this or greatest that - whenever I'm asked for such details my mind invariably goes blank. There's enough brilliance out there to blow your mind on an endless loop. But there's one song I can't see beyond when it comes to nailing the zenith of all human lives: the first flush of new and true love.
You probably know it - there have been countless versions over the years by performers ranging, curiously, from Bob Monkhouse to Elvis - but the interpretation that best articulates the truths at the core of the song is by Roberta Flack, a singer who in her prime possessed the most controlled, tonally impeccable and euphonious voice on the planet.
The song, The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face, was written in 1957 by the folk singer Ewan MacColl, a man variously regarded as a genius, a liar and a hypocrite. A man's man, then. Spool forward a dozen years and, by the time Flack's version was committed to wax on her debut album, First Take, the song had been stretched like pizza dough, being half the speed of MacColl's original recording and twice as long.
It wasn't until 1971, though, when Clint Eastwood boldly employed all five minutes and 22 seconds of it to accompany a love scene in his first directorial outing, Play Misty For Me, that Flack's miraculous performance reached an international audience, garnering her both a US No1 and a Grammy following its release as a single in 1972.
So far, so Paul Gambaccini. But what of my own perspective? Why does Flack's rendition leave me weak with melancholy? I can't even recall the specifics of discovering the song, other than that I was at a low, low ebb. I suspect my heart was broken, but as is the way in such circumstances the weeks and months merged hazily and little leaps out bearing a sharp outline.
The subject of the song - the hallucinatory ecstasy of love in its purest state - renders it one I treat with the greatest respect, playing it infrequently lest the spell loses its power. Just as love unfurls and evolves, so does the effect of MacColl's fragile poetry delivered with voluptuous grace by Flack.
Besides all this serious business, I've kept the tatty cover of the sheet music on the fridge door for more than 10 years: a totem, a blazon, a talisman? Perhaps all, perhaps none of these - the singer beams out from beneath the world's greatest-ever afro. Beauty and truth: what more can you ask for in a song?
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article