This Masterpiece Of A Song Held The No. 1 Spot The Longest In 1972

"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is an artistic and commercial highlight of 1970s music, an astonishingly beautiful recording that spent the most time atop the pop chart in 1972. Originally a folk song by Ewan MacColl, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" became a signature song for soul superstar Roberta Flack simply because she sang it so well. When Flack got ahold of the song, she added layers of feeling, lots of depth, and all the happiness imbued in the lyrics and more. She made a good song great, as well as lush, warm, and precisely restrained.

At its core, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" is a sweet and simple love poem. The narrator instantly fell in love with the subject of the song, and how could they not? The sun rises in her eyes, the Earth both quaked and shook like a bird's heart upon their first kiss, and they both know their mutual joy will sustain them until the end of history. Flack's recording resulted in one of the least controversial Grammy wins ever, taking home prizes in 1973 for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Millions of Americans agreed: "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" spent six weeks at No. 1, longer than any other song in 1972. Here's the story of an undeniable work of art that was also a runaway success.

As life-affirming as it is joyous and intricately constructed, it took about three years for the potential of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" as recorded by Roberta Flack, to be fully recognized. This '70s singer whose career ended too soon was also one of the musicians who died in 2025 without much notice, but in her prime her talent was center stage. In 1969, Flack was allowed 10 hours to record eight songs for her first album "First Take," an exercise in capturing studio magic without a lot of post-production trickery. "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was one of those songs, but it didn't appear at all on the Hot 100 pop chart, at least not right away. "Play Misty for Me," a thriller about a radio personality, needed a romantic piece of music to soundtrack a scene. Remembering Flack's take on "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face," director Clint Eastwood personally called the singer and asked if he could use it. 

Shortly after "Play Misty for Me" began its theatrical run in November 1971, Flack's single started to move and it debuted on the Hot 100 in March 1972. Six weeks later, "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" was the No. 1 song in the country. It stayed at the top for six weeks, longer than any other song would manage in 1972, and that's a big reason why Billboard declared it the biggest single of the year.