Many artists, both before and after Flack’s version, have covered “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face,” including The Kingston Trio, Gordon Lightfoot, Elvis Presley, Shirley Bassey (a personal favorite), Nana Mouskouri, George Michael, and Josh Groban.
For reasons I won’t get into now, I’ve recently wanted to hear “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” from a male vocalist. After a YouTube search, it’s Luke Evans’s version I consider the best from the male singers I heard.
Oh, and there’s an added bonus: Luke’s gay, so I can readily imagine him singing this beautiful song to another man. I like the thought of that. . . . And I also appreciate how, as said elsewhere online, there’s just “so much emotion and soul in this song. It’s just beautiful.” . . . I hope that’s your experience of it too.
The first time ever I saw your face
I thought the sun rose in your eyes
And the moon and the stars
Were the gifts you gave
To the dark and the empty skies
And the first time ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hands
Like the trembling heart
Of a captive bird
That was there at my command
My love
And the first time ever I lay with you
I felt your heart, oh, so close to mine
And I knew our joy
It would fill the earth
And would last ’til the end of time
My love
The first time ever I saw
Your face
Related Off-site Links:
First Time Hearing Luke Evans’s “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” – Zooty Reactions (February 4, 2023).
“Truly Beautiful!” Luke Evans – “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”: A Reaction – Shawn and Mel (March 11, 2023).
Luke Evans Steps Into Fishnets for The Rocky Horror Show on Broadway – Beth Stevens (Broadway News, October 29, 2025).
Luke Evans Starring in ITV Thriller The Party Adapted From Novel by How To Fail Podcast’s Elizabeth Day – Max Goldbart (Deadline, November 6, 2025).
Other featured musicians at The Wild Reed:
Dusty Springfield | David Bowie | Kate Bush | Maxwell | Buffy Sainte-Marie | Prince | Frank Ocean | Maria Callas | Loreena McKennitt | Rosanne Cash | Petula Clark | Wendy Matthews | Darren Hayes | Jenny Morris | Gil Scott-Heron | Shirley Bassey | Rufus Wainwright | Kiki Dee | Suede | Marianne Faithfull | Dionne Warwick | Seal | Sam Sparro | Wanda Jackson | Engelbert Humperdinck | Pink Floyd | Carl Anderson | The Church | Enrique Iglesias | Yvonne Elliman | Lenny Kravitz | Helen Reddy | Stephen Gately | Judith Durham | Nat King Cole | Emmylou Harris | Bobbie Gentry | Russell Elliot | BØRNS | Hozier | Enigma | Moby (featuring the Banks Brothers) | Cat Stevens | Chrissy Amphlett | Jon Stevens | Nada Surf | Tom Goss (featuring Matt Alber) | Autoheart | Scissor Sisters | Mavis Staples | Claude Chalhoub | Cass Elliot | Duffy | The Cruel Sea | Wall of Voodoo | Loretta Lynn and Jack White | Foo Fighters | 1927 | Kate Ceberano | Tee Set | Joan Baez | Wet, Wet, Wet | Stephen “Tin Tin” Duffy | Fleetwood Mac | Jane Clifton | Australian Crawl | Pet Shop Boys | Marty Rhone | Josef Salvat | Kiki Dee and Carmelo Luggeri | Aquilo | The Breeders | Tony Enos | Tupac Shakur | Nakhane Touré | Al Green | Donald Glover/Childish Gambino | Josh Garrels | Stromae | Damiyr Shuford | Vaudou Game | Yotha Yindi and The Treaty Project | Lil Nas X | Daby Touré | Sheku Kanneh-Mason | Susan Boyle | D’Angelo | Little Richard | Black Pumas | Mbemba Diebaté | Judie Tzuke | Seckou Keita | Rahsaan Patterson | Black | Ash Dargan | ABBA | The KLF and Tammy Wynette | Luke James and Samoht | Julee Cruise | Olivia Newton-John | Dyllón Burnside | Christine McVie | Rita Coolidge | Bettye LaVette | Burt Bacharach | Kimi Djabaté | Benjamin Booker | Tina Turner | Julie Covington | Midist/Wasim | Durrand Bernarr | Cold Play | Keiynan Lonsdale | Sharon Jones | Sylvester | Warumpi Band | Bad Bunny | Fantastic Negrito | Gordon Lightfoot | Diana Trask
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