“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, to sing.

During the 1960s, it was recorded by various folk singers and became a major international hit for Roberta Flack in 1972, winning the Grammy Awards for Record and Song of the Year. Billboard ranked it as the No. 1 song of the year for 1972.

The song first appeared on Flack’s 1969 album First Take. Her rendition was much slower than the original, as an early solo recording by Seeger ran two and a half minutes long whereas Flack’s is more than twice that length.

Flack’s slower and more sensual version was used by Clint Eastwood in his 1971 directorial film debut, Play Misty for Me, during a lovemaking scene. With the new exposure, Atlantic Records cut the song down to four minutes and released it to radio.

It became a very successful single in the United States where it reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and easy listening charts in April 1972 for six week runs on each list.