Context

This line is from the song "Killing Me Softly With His Song" by Roberta Flack from the album Killing Me Softly (1973).

Ever feel like an artist just gets you? That's the case with this song. Our speaker feels like the singer understands all of the "dark despair" in her life, and his song reflects her sorrow so well that it hurts her to listen to it.

We've felt that way ourselves a time or two—like that time our older sibling stole our middle school diary and did a dramatic reading of it for all of our relatives. Though we suppose that was more like, "killing us loudly and publicly for his own amusement." Still… that doesn't roll off the tongue quite as well.

Where you've heard it

This song was covered by hip-hop group The Fugees, with Lauryn Hill singing lead vocals. If you're like us and prefer your music delivered by a small, awkward, and pale British boy, then high-five, ya weirdo! But you might recognize this as the song used in the 2002 film About a Boy.

Additional Notable References

• Lori Lieberman (first recorded version)

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

This song is just plain cool. Though chances are good you'll get some scoffs if you actually believe someone is strumming your pain with their fingers—that is, unless you're a sixth grade girl. Because life is like, so totally hard, okay?