Killing Me Softly With His Song | Chords + Lyrics
Intro chorus
| Fm7 | Bbm7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
| Eb7 | Abmaj7 |
singing my life with his words.
| Fm7 | Bb/D |
Killing me softly with his song,
| Eb | Db |
killing me softly, with his song.
| Abmaj7 | Db |
Telling my whole life, with his words,
| Gbmaj7#11 | Gbmaj7#11 | F | F |
killing me softly, with his song.
Instrumental 1
||: Bb7sus4 :|| x8
Verse 1
| Bbm7 | Eb7 |
I heard he sang a good song,
| Abmaj7 | Dbmaj7 |
I heard he had a style.
| Bbm7 | Eb7 | Fm7 | Fm7 |
And so I came to see him to listen for a while.
| Bbm7 | Eb7 |
And there he was this young boy,
| Abmaj7 | C7 |
a stranger to my eyes.
Chorus 1
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.
Verse 2
| Bb7sus4 | Eb |
I felt all flushed with fever,
| Abmaj7 | Dbmaj7 |
embarrassed by the crowd.
| Bbm7 | Eb7 | Fm7 | Fm7 |
I felt he found my letters and read each one out loud.
| Bbm7 | Eb7 |
I prayed that he would finish,
| Abmaj7 | C7 |
but he just kept right on.
Chorus 2
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.
Verse 3
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.
Chorus 3
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.
Instrumental 2 (as chorus)
| Fm7 | Bbm7 | Eb7 | Abmaj7 |
Oh, oh, oh…
| Fm7 | Bb/D | Eb | Db |
La la la la la la, oh, oh, oh…
| Abmaj7 | Db | Gbmaj7#11 | Gbmaj7#11 | F | F |
La, ah ah, laa. ah, ah, ah…
Chorus 4
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.
Chorus 5
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.
Killing Me Softly With His Song | Chords + Lyrics (Fugees)
Intro chorus
| Em7 | Am7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
| D7 | Gmaj7 |
singing my life with his words.
| Em7 | A |
Killing me softly with this song,
| D | C |
killing me softly, with this song.
| Gmaj7 | C |
Telling my whole life with his words,
| Fmaj7#11 | Fmaj7#11 | E | E |
killing me softly, with his song.
Instrumental 1
||: A7sus4 :|| x8
(Ah!) Yo (yeah, yeah).
This is Wyclef, Refugee Camp (L-Boogie up in here).
Pra’zrel, (Pra’zrel up in here! Ha! Ha!).
Lil’ Base sits up there on the base (refugees up in here).
While I’m on this, I got my girl L (ah, ah).
One time (one time), one time (one time).
Hey yo, L, you know you got the lyrics (do doo do).
Verse 1
| Am7 | D7 |
I heard he sang a good song,
| Gmaj7 | Cmaj7 |
I heard he had a style.
| Am7 | D7 | Em7 | Em7 |
And so I came to see him and listened for a while.
| Am7 | D7 |
And there he was this young boy,
| Gmaj7 | B7 |
stranger to my eye.
Chorus 1
Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, time),
singing my life with his words (two times, times).
Killing me softly with this song,
killing me softly, with this song.
Telling my whole life with his words,
killing me softly, with his song.
Verse 2
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.
Chorus 2
Strumming my pain with his fingers (one time, one time),
singing my life with his words (two times, two times).
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.
Instrumental 2 (as chorus)
| Em7 | Am7 | D7 | Gmaj7 |
Oh, oh, oh…
| Em7 | A | D | C |
La la la la la la, oh, oh, oh…
| Gmaj7 | C | Fmaj7#11 | Fmaj7#11 | E | E |
La, ah ah, laa. Ah, ah, ah…
Chorus 3
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
singing my life with his words.
Killing me softly, with this song,
killing me softly, with this song.
Telling my whole life with his words,
killing me softly, with his song.
Killing Me Softly With His Song Chords: Exploring the Cycle of Fourths and Modal Shifts
Killing Me Softly With His Song features fairly simple chords, though they might seem intimidating at first. Let’s break down each section to understand the structure.
The chorus, which also serves as the intro, begins in the key of Ab/Fm, moving through the cycle of fourths with VI – II – V – I, like this:
| Fm7 | Bbm7 | Eb7 | Abmaj7 |
Next, there’s a variation using a IIx chord with its 3rd in the bass, forming VI – IIx/3 – V – IV:
| Fm7 | Bb/D | Eb | Db |
The third line shifts briefly to Db major. The Abmaj7 – Db movement follows I – IV, but the Gbmaj7#11 suggests a Lydian tonality, as it’s the only mode with a #4, making Db the temporary I and Gb the IV. The F at the end functions as a IIIx (of Db), leading into the next section.
| Abmaj7 | Db | Gbmaj7#11 | Gbmaj7#11 | F | F |
The verse starts on another minor chord from the key of Ab, this time a II (Bbm7) rather than the VI (Fm7) of the chorus. The first line again follows the cycle of fourths, but from a different starting point: II – V – I – IV.
| Bbm7 | Eb7 | Abmaj7 | Dbmaj7 |
On the second time through, we resolve to VI instead of I – IV, like this:
| Bbm7 | Eb | Fm7 | Fm7 |
The final line follows II – V – I – IIIx, with IIIx leading smoothly back to VI (the chorus).
| Bbm7 | Eb7 | Abmaj7 | C7 |
Comparing Roberta Flack’s and the Fugees’ chord progressions
Perhaps it’s easier to see all this using the key the Fugees are in, Am. I recommend you play in both along with the original recordings at the top of this page.
The main difference between the two versions in terms of chords is that when the chorus first goes “killing me softly with his song,” we don’t use the 3rd in the bass.
Roberta Flack’s Chords (first falf of the chorus)
| Fm7 | Bbm7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
| Eb7 | Abmaj7 |
singing my life with his words.
| Fm7 | Bb/D |
Killing me softly with his song.
The Fugees’ Chords
| Em7 | Am7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers,
| D7 | Gmaj7 |
singing my life with his words.
| Em7 | A |
Killing me softly with his song.
As an exercise, play the chords of the chorus in as many areas of the neck as you can. I’ve designed some TAB for you on how to do this—check it here: Killing Me Softly With His Song – Guitar Lesson with TAB.
After going through that experience, designing a part is simple, and all you’ll need is this chord chart.
Killing Me Softly With His Song Chord Chart | PDF + iReal Pro
Should you want to download this chart, here’s a PDF: Killing Me Softly With His Song chord chart PDF.
This chord chart was created using iReal Pro, here’s a link to that file: Killing Me Softly With His Song chord chart iReal Pro. Using this and the iRealPro app, you can change the key.
Killing Me Softly – Notable Cover Versions
Killing Me Softly is a jazz standard—you won’t find a gigging jazz musician who doesn’t know it.
The most important version is Roberta Flack’s 1973 recording, featuring Donny Hathaway on backing vocals. However, Frank Sinatra and Perry Como also recorded notable versions, with Como changing the title to Killing Me Softly With Her Song.
There are also acoustic renditions by Michael Jackson and Lori Lieberman worth a listen. I’ve included all these, along with versions by Jessie J, Citizen Queen, Cynthia Erivo, Nancy Sinatra, and Anne Murray, in the playlist at the top of this page.
Lori Lieberman was actually the first to release it in 1972—she also wrote the lyrics, inspired by Don McLean (American Pie, Vincent).
However, the most famous version is the Fugees’ 1996 hip-hop rework. Their version was so big it broke the record for the most-played song in a single week, selling close to 10 million copies worldwide.
On the charts, the Fugees’ version reached #1 in more than twenty countries, providing a nice payout for Lori’s retirement.
If you study Killing Me Softly‘s chords and lyrics above, you’ll notice that the Fugees cut a verse and only changed the bass note of one chord.
Killing Me Softly With His Song Chords: Continue Learning
Want to master this song? Check out the full TAB lesson here: Killing Me Softly With His Song (Roberta Flack + Fugess) Guitar Lesson with TAB.
Alternatively, here are five similar tunes you might enjoy: