Before Groban, Roberta Flack completely reinvented the song's identity by slowing it down to a "slow-as-molasses" tempo. Behind the Song "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face"
MacColl wrote the melody to mimic the heartbeat of someone intensely in love. In his original vision, it was a faster-paced folk tune—far removed from the slow, operatic style Groban would later adopt. The Roberta Flack Transformation (1972) Josh Groban - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Audio)
At the time, MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove. Josh Groban - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face (Audio)