The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face - wikipedia The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face For other uses, see The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face ( disambiguation ). This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( January 2013 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' Single by Roberta Flack from the album First Take B - side `` Trade Winds '' Released March 7, 1972 ( 1972 - 03 - 07 ) Format 45 '' single Recorded 1968 Genre Soul vocal jazz Length 5 : 22 4 : 15 ( 1972 radio edit ) Label Atlantic 2864 Songwriter ( s ) Ewan MacColl Producer ( s ) Joel Dorn Roberta Flack singles chronology `` Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow '' ( 1972 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' ( 1972 ) `` Where Is the Love '' ( 1972 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' Roberta Flack 's `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' from First Take Problems playing this file ? See media help. `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' is a 1957 folk song written by British political singer / songwriter Ewan MacColl for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife. At the time, the couple were lovers, although MacColl was still married to Joan Littlewood. Seeger sang the song when the duo performed in folk clubs around Britain. During the 1960s, it was recorded by various folk singers and became a major international hit for Roberta Flack in 1972, winning Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the number one Hot 100 single of the year for 1972. Contents 1 History 2 Roberta Flack version 3 Other recorded versions 4 See also 5 References 6 External links History There are two differing accounts of the origin of the song. MacColl said that he wrote the song for Seeger after she asked him to pen a song for a play she was in. He wrote the song and taught it to Seeger over the telephone. Seeger said that MacColl, with whom she had begun an affair in 1957, used to send her tapes to listen to whilst they were apart and that the song was on one of them. The song entered the pop mainstream when it was released by the Kingston Trio on their 1962 hit album New Frontier and in subsequent years by other pop folk groups such as Peter, Paul and Mary, The Brothers Four, and the Chad Mitchell Trio, and by Gordon Lightfoot on his debut album Lightfoot ! ( 1966 ). MacColl made no secret of the fact that he disliked all of the cover versions of the song. His daughter - in - law wrote : `` He hated all of them. He had a special section in his record collection for them, entitled ' The Chamber of Horrors '. He said that the Elvis version was like Romeo at the bottom of the Post Office Tower singing up to Juliet. And the other versions, he thought, were travesties : bludgeoning, histrionic, and lacking in grace. '' Roberta Flack version Roberta Flack on `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' It 's a perfect song. Second only to `` Amazing Grace, I think... `` It 's the kind of song that has two unique & distinct qualities : it tells a story, & it has lyrics that mean something... Because of ( its meaningful lyrics ) the ( song ) can be interpreted by a lot of people in a lot of different ways : the love of a mother for a child, for example, or ( that of ) two lovers. '' `` I wish more songs I had chosen had moved me the way that one did. I 've loved ( most ) every song I 've recorded, but that one was pretty special. '' The song was popularised by Roberta Flack in 1972 in a version that became a breakout hit for the singer. Flack knew the song from the Joe & Eddie version which appeared on that folk duo 's 1963 album Coast to Coast ( as `` The First Time '' ), Flack 's friend singer Donal Leace having brought the track to Flack 's attention. Having taught the song to the young girls in the glee club at Banneker High School ( Washington D.C. ), Flack would regularly perform `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' in her set - list at the Pennsylvania Avenue club Mr Henry 's where Flack was hired as resident singer in 1968. In February 1969 Flack would record the song for her debut album First Take, her rendition of which was much slower paced than Seeger 's original, Flack 's take running more than twice the two and a half minute length of Seeger 's. Flack would recall that while she made her studio recording of `` The First Time... '' she felt the loss of her pet cat, Flack having two days earlier returned home to Washington D.C. from Detroit ( where she had played her first non-local engagement ) to find that her cat had passed away. Flack 's slow and sensual version was used by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 directorial film debut : Play Misty for Me to score a love scene featuring Eastwood and actress Donna Mills. Flack would recall how Eastwood, who had heard her version of `` The First Time... '' on his car radio while driving down the LA Freeway, phoned out of the blue to her Alexandria ( Virginia ) home : ( Roberta Flack quote : ) `` ( Eastwood said : ) ' I 'd like to use your song in this movie... about a disc jockey ( with ) a lot of music in it. I 'd use it in the only part of the movie where there 's absolute love. ' I said okay. We discussed the money. ( Eastwood would pay $2000 to use Flack 's `` The First Time... '' ) He said : ' Anything else ? ' And I said : ' I want to do it over again. It 's too slow. ' He said : `` No, its not. ' '' Flack in fact has also recalled that during the First Take sessions her producer Joel Dorn had suggested re-recording `` The First Time... '' with a slightly speeded tempo and lyric edit to trim its running time but Flack had not then been agreeable : ( Roberta Flack quote : ) `` Joel said : ' Okay you do n't care if it 's a hit or not ? ' I said : ' No sir. ' Of course he was right for three years, until ( after ) Clint got it '' - as the attention Flack 's `` The First Time... '' garnered ensuant to the November 1971 release of Play Misty For Me did persuade Atlantic Records to issue the track as a single - trimmed by a minute - in February 1972 : the track became a smash hit single in the United States, reaching No. 1 for six weeks on both the Billboard Hot 100 and easy listening charts in the spring of 1972, with a No. 4 R&B chart peak. Reaching No. 14 on the UK Singles Chart, Flack 's `` The First Time... '' was No. 1 for three weeks on the singles chart in Canada 's RPM magazine. The song was also played as the wake - up music on flight day 9 to the astronauts aboard Apollo 17, on their last day in Lunar orbit ( Friday, 12 / 15 / 1972 ) before returning to earth, thus ending the first manned exploration of the Moon. The use of the song was most likely a reference to the `` face '' of the moon below the spacecraft. In 2014, two films featured the song : Flack 's version was heard twice in the superhero film X-Men : Days of Future Past, set largely in 1973, while a `` cover '' of it was performed by one of the protagonists in The Inbetweeners 2 for comic effect. Flack 's version was used as the outro in episode 88 of the television series Mad Men in 2015 ; in 2016 the same version was featured in the finale episode of the HBO series The Night Of and played in the background of Episode 3 of the FX Cable TV Miniseries The People v. O.J. Simpson : American Crime Story. Other recorded versions Aaron Neville Acker Bilk ( instrumental ) Alfie Boe Alison Moyet Amanda Palmer Andy Williams Ann Hampton Callaway Appendix Out Bert Jansch Bobby Vinton Bob Monkhouse Bonnie Dobson Bradley Joseph Brian Kennedy Carol - Ann Flanagan Carla Cook Celine Dion The Chi - Lites Chie Ayado Christy Moore Chris Walker Cindytalk Coldcut and Joanna Law Conner Reeves David Cook Diana Ross Don McLean Edward Woodward Easther Bennett Elvis Presley Emily Barker Engelbert Humperdinck Fatman Scoop The Flaming Lips and Erykah Badu The Flaming Lips and Amanda Palmer George Michael Gordon Lightfoot Gregorian Harry Belafonte and Lena Horne Harry Connick, Jr. Isaac Hayes Jeffrey Gaines Jeffrey Osborne Jennifer Hudson Joe and Eddie Johnny Cash Johnny Mathis Jonathan & Charlotte Jools Holland Jordan Rudess José Carreras Josh Krajcik Journey South Judy Collins June Tabor Kate Ceberano Kate Havnevik Kitty White Lauryn Hill Lea Michele ( Glee Cast ) Lee Towers Leona Lewis Marcia Griffiths Marianne Faithfull Maria Taylor Marlon Williams Mary Travers Mathilde Santing Matt Cardle Mel Tormé Michael Kaeshammer Michael Sweet Miley Cyrus Nana Mouskouri Natasha Marsh Nils Lofgren Nu : Tone Offa Rex Ol ' Dirty Bastard Paul Mounsey Paul Potts Peter, Paul and Mary Peter Blakeley Petula Clark Pig Orchestra Rachel Z Ray Conniff Regine Velasquez Richard Marx Sarah McQuaid Satori Scooter ( band ) Shirley Bassey The Smothers Brothers Stereophonics Steven Houghton Sylvia McNair Tally Koren Tamera Foster The Temptations Timmy Thomas Toots Thielemans Trijntje Oosterhuis Val Doonican Vanessa Williams Vern Gosdin Vikki Carr Wayne Newton Way Out West We Five Naturally 7 See also List of Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles of 1972 List of number - one adult contemporary singles of 1972 ( U.S. ) List of number - one singles in Australia during the 1970s List of number - one singles of 1972 ( Canada ) References Jump up ^ `` Record of the Year - The 15th Annual Grammy Awards ( 1972 ) ''. The Recording Academy. 1972. Retrieved May 15, 2018. Jump up ^ Billboard Year - End Hot 100 singles of 1972 Jump up ^ Quarrington, Paul ; Doyle, Roddy ( 2010 ). Cigar Box Banjo. Greystone Books. p. 89. ISBN 9781553656296. Retrieved August 21, 2011. Jump up ^ Picardie, Justine ( 1995 ). `` The first time ever I saw your face ''. In De Lisle, Tim. Lives of the great songs. London : Penguin. pp. 122 -- 26. ISBN 978 - 0 - 14024957 - 6. Jump up ^ Brocken, Michael ( 2003 ), The British Folk Revival, 1944 -- 2002, Ashgate, p. 38, ISBN 978 - 0 - 7546 - 3282 - 5 : quoting MacColl 's daughter - in - law, Justine Picardie. ^ Jump up to : The Telegraph 16 July 2015 `` Roberta Flack : ' Now 's a good time to love music ' '' by Sarah Carson @ www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopmusic/11717262/Roberta-Flack-Nows-a-good-time-to-love-music.html ^ Jump up to : The Courier - Journal ( Louisville, Kentucky ) 11 November 1983 `` Blues pops singer Roberta Flack should be right at home in Arts Center 's classical environs '' by Elinor J. Precher p. 7 - 8 Jump up ^ https://www.superseventies.com/1972_8singles.html Jump up ^ https://www.wisconsingazette.com/entertainment/roberta-flack-takes-on-the-beatles-canon/article_ff42790a-0b52-5ad8-8aa2-0a33a65e97fb.html Jump up ^ https://www.tampabay.com/features/music/feel-the-love-with-roberta-flack/1212632 Jump up ^ de Yampert, Rick ( January 20, 2012 ). `` Roberta Flack serenades Daytona ''. The Daytona Beach News - Journal. GateHouse Media. Retrieved September 10, 2018. Jump up ^ Whitburn, Joel ( 2002 ). Top Adult Contemporary : 1961 - 2001. Record Research. p. 93. Jump up ^ Fries, Colin ( March 15, 2015 ). `` Chronology of Wake - Up Calls '' ( PDF ). nasa.gov. NASA. pp. 6, 7. Archived ( PDF ) from the original on January 4, 2006. Retrieved September 27, 2018. External links Superseventies.com - with quotes from Roberta Flack and information on the song 's background Roberta Flack Studio albums First Take ( 1969 ) Chapter Two ( 1970 ) Quiet Fire ( 1971 ) Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway ( 1972 ) Killing Me Softly ( 1973 ) Feel Like Makin ' Love ( 1975 ) Blue Lights in the Basement ( 1977 ) Roberta Flack ( 1978 ) Roberta Flack Featuring Donny Hathaway ( 1980 ) I 'm the One ( 1982 ) Born to Love ( 1983 ) Oasis ( 1988 ) Set the Night to Music ( 1991 ) Roberta ( 1994 ) The Christmas Album ( 1997 ) Holiday ( 2003 ) Live albums Live & More ( 1980 ) At Her Best -- Live ( 2008 ) Soundtrack albums Bustin ' Loose ( 1981 ) Compilation albums The Best of Roberta Flack ( 1981 ) Greatest Hits ( 1984 ) Softly with These Songs : The Best of Roberta Flack ( 1993 ) The Very Best of Roberta Flack ( 2006 ) Singles `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' `` Where Is the Love '' `` Killing Me Softly with His Song '' `` Feel Like Makin ' Love '' `` The Closer I Get to You '' `` If Ever I See You Again '' `` Making Love '' `` Tonight, I Celebrate My Love '' `` Oasis '' `` Uh - Uh Ooh - Ooh Look Out ( Here It Comes ) '' Related articles Discography Donny Hathaway Billboard Year - End number one singles ( 1960 -- 1979 ) 1960 : `` Theme from A Summer Place '' -- Percy Faith 1961 : `` Tossin ' and Turnin ' '' -- Bobby Lewis 1962 : `` Stranger on the Shore '' -- Mr. Acker Bilk 1963 : `` Sugar Shack '' -- Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs `` / Surfin ' U.S.A. '' - The Beach Boys 1964 : `` I Want to Hold Your Hand '' -- The Beatles 1965 : `` Wooly Bully '' -- Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs 1966 : `` Ballad of the Green Berets '' -- S / Sgt. Barry Sadler 1967 : `` To Sir, with Love '' -- Lulu 1968 : `` Hey Jude '' -- The Beatles 1969 : `` Sugar, Sugar '' -- The Archies 1970 : `` Bridge over Troubled Water '' -- Simon & Garfunkel 1971 : `` Joy to the World '' -- Three Dog Night 1972 : `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' -- Roberta Flack 1973 : `` Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree '' -- Tony Orlando and Dawn 1974 : `` The Way We Were '' -- Barbra Streisand 1975 : `` Love Will Keep Us Together '' -- Captain & Tennille 1976 : `` Silly Love Songs '' -- Wings 1977 : `` Tonight 's the Night ( Gonna Be Alright ) '' -- Rod Stewart 1978 : `` Shadow Dancing '' -- Andy Gibb 1979 : `` My Sharona '' -- The Knack Complete list ( 1946 -- 1959 ) ( 1960 -- 1979 ) ( 1980 -- 1999 ) ( 2000 -- 2019 ) Grammy Award for Record of the Year 1959 − 1980 `` Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu ( Volare ) '' by Domenico Modugno ( 1959 ) `` Mack the Knife '' by Bobby Darin ( 1960 ) `` Theme from A Summer Place '' by Percy Faith ( 1961 ) `` Moon River '' by Henry Mancini ( 1962 ) `` I Left My Heart in San Francisco '' by Tony Bennett ( 1963 ) `` Days of Wine and Roses '' by Henry Mancini ( 1964 ) `` The Girl from Ipanema '' by Astrud Gilberto & Stan Getz ( 1965 ) `` A Taste of Honey '' by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass ( 1966 ) `` Strangers in the Night '' by Frank Sinatra ( 1967 ) `` Up, Up and Away '' by The 5th Dimension ( Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson ) ( 1968 ) `` Mrs. Robinson '' by Simon & Garfunkel ( Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon ) ( 1969 ) `` Aquarius / Let the Sunshine In '' by The 5th Dimension ( Billy Davis Jr., Florence LaRue, Marilyn McCoo, Lamont McLemore, Ron Townson ) ( 1970 ) `` Bridge over Troubled Water '' by Simon & Garfunkel ( Art Garfunkel, Paul Simon ) ( 1971 ) `` It 's Too Late '' by Carole King ( 1972 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' by Roberta Flack ( 1973 ) `` Killing Me Softly with His Song '' by Roberta Flack ( 1974 ) `` I Honestly Love You '' by Olivia Newton - John ( 1975 ) `` Love Will Keep Us Together '' by Captain & Tennille ( Daryl Dragon, Toni Tennille ) ( 1976 ) `` This Masquerade '' by George Benson ( 1977 ) `` Hotel California '' by Eagles ( Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner, Joe Walsh ) ( 1978 ) `` Just the Way You Are '' by Billy Joel ( 1979 ) `` What a Fool Believes '' by The Doobie Brothers ( Jeffrey Baxter, John Hartman, Keith Knudsen, Michael McDonald, Tiran Porter, Patrick Simmons ) ( 1980 ) 1981 − 2000 `` Sailing '' by Christopher Cross ( 1981 ) `` Bette Davis Eyes '' by Kim Carnes ( 1982 ) `` Rosanna '' by Toto ( Bobby Kimball, Steve Lukather, David Paich, Jeff Porcaro, David Hungate, Steve Porcaro ) ( 1983 ) `` Beat It '' by Michael Jackson ( 1984 ) `` What 's Love Got to Do with It '' by Tina Turner ( 1985 ) `` We Are the World '' by USA for Africa ( 1986 ) `` Higher Love '' by Steve Winwood ( 1987 ) `` Graceland '' by Paul Simon ( 1988 ) `` Do n't Worry, Be Happy '' by Bobby McFerrin ( 1989 ) `` Wind Beneath My Wings '' by Bette Midler ( 1990 ) `` Another Day in Paradise '' by Phil Collins ( 1991 ) `` Unforgettable '' by Natalie Cole with Nat King Cole ( 1992 ) `` Tears in Heaven '' by Eric Clapton ( 1993 ) `` I Will Always Love You '' by Whitney Houston ( 1994 ) `` All I Wanna Do '' by Sheryl Crow ( 1995 ) `` Kiss from a Rose '' by Seal ( 1996 ) `` Change the World '' by Eric Clapton ( 1997 ) `` Sunny Came Home '' by Shawn Colvin ( 1998 ) `` My Heart Will Go On '' by Celine Dion ( 1999 ) `` Smooth '' by Santana ( Rodney Holmes, Tony Lindsay, Karl Perazzo, Raul Rekow, Benny Rietveld, Carlos Santana, Chester Thompson ) featuring Rob Thomas ( 2000 ) 2001 − present `` Beautiful Day '' by U2 ( Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. ) ( 2001 ) `` Walk On '' by U2 ( Bono, Adam Clayton, The Edge, Larry Mullen Jr. ) ( 2002 ) `` Do n't Know Why '' by Norah Jones ( 2003 ) `` Clocks '' by Coldplay ( Guy Berryman, Jon Buckland, Will Champion, Phil Harvey, Chris Martin ) ( 2004 ) `` Here We Go Again '' by Ray Charles and Norah Jones ( 2005 ) `` Boulevard of Broken Dreams '' by Green Day ( Billie Joe Armstrong, Mike Dirnt, Frank Edwin Wright III ) ( 2006 ) `` Not Ready to Make Nice '' by Dixie Chicks ( Martie Maguire, Natalie Maines, Emily Robison ) ( 2007 ) `` Rehab '' by Amy Winehouse ( 2008 ) `` Please Read the Letter '' by Alison Krauss and Robert Plant ( 2009 ) `` Use Somebody '' by Kings of Leon ( Caleb Followill, Jared Followill, Matthew Followill, Nathan Followill ) ( 2010 ) `` Need You Now '' by Lady Antebellum ( Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood ) ( 2011 ) `` Rolling in the Deep '' by Adele ( 2012 ) `` Somebody That I Used to Know '' by Gotye featuring Kimbra ( 2013 ) `` Get Lucky '' by Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams & Nile Rodgers ( 2014 ) `` Stay with Me '' ( Darkchild version ) by Sam Smith ( 2015 ) `` Uptown Funk '' by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars ( 2016 ) `` Hello '' by Adele ( 2017 ) `` 24K Magic '' by Bruno Mars ( 2018 ) Grammy Award for Song of the Year 1959 − 1980 `` Volare '' -- Domenico Modugno ( songwriter ) ( 1959 ) `` The Battle of New Orleans '' -- Jimmy Driftwood ( songwriter ) ( 1960 ) `` Theme from Exodus '' -- Ernest Gold ( songwriter ) ( 1961 ) `` Moon River '' -- Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini ( songwriters ) ( 1962 ) `` What Kind of Fool Am I ? '' -- Leslie Bricusse & Anthony Newley ( songwriters ) ( 1963 ) `` Days of Wine and Roses '' -- Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini ( songwriters ) ( 1964 ) `` Hello, Dolly ! '' -- Jerry Herman ( songwriter ) ( 1965 ) `` The Shadow of Your Smile '' -- Paul Francis Webster & Johnny Mandel ( songwriters ) ( 1966 ) `` Michelle '' -- John Lennon & Paul McCartney ( songwriters ) ( 1967 ) `` Up, Up, and Away '' -- Jimmy Webb ( songwriter ) ( 1968 ) `` Little Green Apples '' -- Bobby Russell ( songwriter ) ( 1969 ) `` Games People Play '' -- Joe South ( songwriter ) ( 1970 ) `` Bridge over Troubled Water '' -- Paul Simon ( songwriter ) ( 1971 ) `` You 've Got a Friend '' -- Carole King ( songwriter ) ( 1972 ) `` The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face '' -- Ewan MacColl ( songwriter ) ( 1973 ) `` Killing Me Softly with His Song '' -- Norman Gimbel & Charles Fox ( songwriters ) ( 1974 ) `` The Way We Were '' -- Alan and Marilyn Bergman & Marvin Hamlisch ( songwriters ) ( 1975 ) `` Send In the Clowns '' -- Stephen Sondheim ( songwriter ) ( 1976 ) `` I Write the Songs '' -- Bruce Johnston ( songwriter ) ( 1977 ) `` Evergreen ( Love Theme from A Star Is Born ) '' -- Barbra Streisand & Paul Williams ( songwriters ) / `` You Light Up My Life '' -- Joe Brooks ( songwriter ) ( 1978 ) `` Just the Way You Are '' -- Billy Joel ( songwriter ) ( 1979 ) `` What a Fool Believes '' -- Kenny Loggins & Michael McDonald ( songwriters ) ( 1980 ) 1981 − 2000 `` Sailing '' -- Christopher Cross ( songwriter ) ( 1981 ) `` Bette Davis Eyes '' -- Donna Weiss & Jackie DeShannon ( songwriters ) ( 1982 ) `` Always on My Mind '' -- Johnny Christopher, Mark James & Wayne Carson ( songwriters ) ( 1983 ) `` Every Breath You Take '' -- Sting ( songwriter ) ( 1984 ) `` What 's Love Got to Do with It '' -- Graham Lyle & Terry Britten ( songwriters ) ( 1985 ) `` We Are the World '' -- Michael Jackson & Lionel Richie ( songwriters ) ( 1986 ) `` That 's What Friends Are For '' -- Burt Bacharach & Carole Bayer Sager ( songwriters ) ( 1987 ) `` Somewhere Out There '' -- James Horner, Barry Mann & Cynthia Weil ( songwriters ) ( 1988 ) `` Do n't Worry, Be Happy '' -- Bobby McFerrin ( songwriter ) ( 1989 ) `` Wind Beneath My Wings '' -- Larry Henley & Jeff Silbar ( songwriters ) ( 1990 ) `` From a Distance '' -- Julie Gold ( songwriter ) ( 1991 ) `` Unforgettable '' -- Irving Gordon ( songwriter ) ( 1992 ) `` Tears in Heaven '' -- Eric Clapton & Will Jennings ( songwriters ) ( 1993 ) `` A Whole New World '' -- Alan Menken & Tim Rice ( songwriters ) ( 1994 ) `` Streets of Philadelphia '' -- Bruce Springsteen ( songwriter ) ( 1995 ) `` Kiss from a Rose '' -- Seal ( songwriter ) ( 1996 ) `` Change the World '' -- Gordon Kennedy, Wayne Kirkpatrick & Tommy Sims ( songwriters ) ( 1997 ) `` Sunny Came Home '' -- Shawn Colvin & John Leventhal ( songwriters ) ( 1998 ) `` My Heart Will Go On '' -- James Horner & Will Jennings ( songwriters ) ( 1999 ) `` Smooth '' -- Itaal Shur & Rob Thomas ( songwriters ) ( 2000 ) 2001 − present `` Beautiful Day '' -- Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson ( songwriters ) ( 2001 ) `` Fallin ' '' -- Alicia Keys ( songwriter ) ( 2002 ) `` Do n't Know Why '' -- Jesse Harris ( songwriter ) ( 2003 ) `` Dance with My Father '' -- Richard Marx & Luther Vandross ( songwriters ) ( 2004 ) `` Daughters '' -- John Mayer ( songwriter ) ( 2005 ) `` Sometimes You Ca n't Make It on Your Own '' -- Adam Clayton, David Evans, Laurence Mullen & Paul Hewson ( songwriters ) ( 2006 ) `` Not Ready to Make Nice '' -- Emily Burns Erwin, Martha Maguire, Natalie Maines Pasdar & Dan Wilson ( songwriters ) ( 2007 ) `` Rehab '' -- Amy Winehouse ( songwriter ) ( 2008 ) `` Viva la Vida '' -- Guy Berryman, Jonathan Buckland, William Champion & Christopher Martin ( songwriters ) ( 2009 ) `` Single Ladies ( Put a Ring on It ) '' -- Thaddis `` Kuk '' Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, Terius Nash & Christopher Stewart ( songwriters ) ( 2010 ) `` Need You Now '' -- Dave Haywood, Josh Kear, Charles Kelley & Hillary Scott ( songwriters ) ( 2011 ) `` Rolling in the Deep '' -- Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth ( songwriters ) ( 2012 ) `` We Are Young '' -- Jack Antonoff, Jeff Bhasker, Andrew Dost & Nate Ruess ( songwriters ) ( 2013 ) `` Royals '' -- Joel Little & Ella Yelich O'Connor ( songwriters ) ( 2014 ) `` Stay with Me '' ( Darkchild version ) -- James Napier, William Phillips & Sam Smith ( songwriters ) ( 2015 ) `` Thinking Out Loud '' -- Ed Sheeran & Amy Wadge ( songwriters ) ( 2016 ) `` Hello '' -- Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin ( songwriters ) ( 2017 ) `` That 's What I Like '' -- Christopher Brody Brown, James Fauntleroy, Philip Lawrence, Bruno Mars, Ray Charles McCullough II, Jeremy Reeves, Ray Romulus & Jonathan Yip ( songwriters ) ( 2018 ) Jump up ^ `` The Billboard Hot 100 - 1963 ''. Billboard. Archived from the original on October 20, 2006. Retrieved October 17, 2018. Jump up ^ Kowal, Barry. `` Billboard ( USA ) Magazine 's ( Magazine Chart ) Top 100 Singles of 1963 '', Hits of All Decades. September 20, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2018. Jump up ^ ( Fred ( 2003 ). The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits. New York : Billboard Books. p. 138. ISBN 0823076776. Retrieved 20 October 2018. ) Jump up ^ `` Top Records of 1963 '', Billboard, Section II, December 28, 1963. p. 30. Retrieved February 17, 2018. Jump up ^ Kowal, Barry. Billboard Magazine 's ( USA ) Top 100 Single Recordings of 1963, Hits of All Decades. August 27, 2017. Retrieved October 19, 2018. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=The_First_Time_Ever_I_Saw_Your_Face&oldid=865234981 '' Categories : 1957 songs 1972 singles 2000 singles Songs written by Ewan MacColl Roberta Flack songs Celine Dion songs The Kingston Trio songs Peter, Paul and Mary songs We Five songs Andy Williams songs Billboard Hot 100 number - one singles Billboard Adult Contemporary number - one singles Number - one singles in Australia RPM Top Singles number - one singles Grammy Award for Song of the Year Grammy Award for Record of the Year A&M Records singles Pop ballads Vocal jazz songs Richard Marx songs Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from November 2016 Articles needing additional references from January 2013 All articles needing additional references Articles with hAudio microformats All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from January 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Español Français ไทย Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 22 October 2018, at 16 : 46 ( UTC ). 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Question: who wrote the song the first time ever
Answer: Ewan MacColl