I heard she sang a good song   I heard she had a style   And so I came to see her   And listen for a while   And there she was, this young girl   A stranger to my eyes      Strumming my pain with her fingers   Singing my life with her words   Killing me softly with her song   Killing me softly with her song   Telling my whole life with her words   Killing me softly with her song      I felt all flushed with fever   Embarrassed by the crowd   I felt she found my letters   And read each one out loud   I prayed that she would finish   But she just kept right on      Strumming my pain with her fingers   Oh, singing my life with her words   Killing me softly with her song   Killing me softly with her song   Telling my whole life with her words   Killing me softly with her song      She sang as if she knew me   In all the God despair   And then she looked right through me   As if I wasn't there   And she just kept on singing   Singing clear and strong      Strumming my pain with her fingers   Singing my life with her words   Killing me softly with her song   Killing me softly with her song   Telling my whole life with her words   Killing me softly with her song      Strumming my pain with her fingers   Singing my life with her words   Killing me softly with her song   Killing me softly with her song   Telling my whole life with her words   Killing me softly with her song