“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” is a folk song from 1957 written by Ewan MacColl, a British singer-songwriter known for his political songs. He wrote it for Peggy Seeger, who later became his wife.
At that time, they were in love even though MacColl was still married to his second wife, Jean Newlove. Peggy Seeger sang this song when they performed together at folk clubs in Britain.
The song tells the story of someone falling deeply in love during their first encounter and the overwhelming passion that accompanies this feeling of love.
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the song’s lyrics.
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Inspiration Behind “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
There are two different stories about where the song came from:
According to MacColl, Seeger asked him to make a song for a play she was in. He wrote it and taught it to her over the phone.
According to Seeger, MacColl used to send her tapes to listen to when they were apart, and the song was on one of those tapes. At that time, MacColl was married to his second wife, Jean Newlove, and they were having an affair.
Peggy Seeger said that MacColl was challenged to write a love song because most of his songs were political, and this was his response.
In a 2015 interview with Mojo magazine, Peggy Seeger mentioned, “We weren’t really getting along at the time. After all, he was married to someone else then.”
MacColl later left his wife for Peggy Seeger, and they got married in 1977.
“First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” Lyrics Meaning
[Verse 1]
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 endless skies
In Verse 1, MacColl expresses his deep love for a woman, likely Peggy Seeger, who would become his wife.
He describes the first time he saw her face, comparing it to the rising sun in her eyes and the moon and stars as gifts she brought to the dark and endless skies.
This imagery conveys the idea that her presence illuminated his world with beauty and light.
[Verse 2]
And the first time, ever I kissed your mouth
I felt the earth move in my hand
Like the trembling heart
Of a captive bird
That was there, at my command
My love
In Verse 2, the singer describes the first time he kissed his lover, and the intensity of that moment is compared to the earth trembling in his hand, akin to the heart of a captive bird responding to his touch.
This imagery suggests that their love was deeply passionate and overwhelming.
[Verse 3]
And the first time, ever I lay with you
I felt your heart so close to mine
And I knew our joy
Would fill the earth
And last, ’til the end of time
My love
In Verse 3, the singer describes the first time he shared an intimate moment with her, feeling her heart beating close to his.
This closeness symbolizes their emotional connection, and he believes that their love will bring immense joy to the world and endure for a long time, possibly even forever.
[Outro]
The first time, ever I saw
Your face
Your face
Your face
Your face
In the Outro, the singer emphasizes the significance of the first time he saw her face by repeating it several times, underlining the profound impact she had on him.
Deeper Meaning Behind “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”
“The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” tells the story of a life-changing encounter between two people deeply in love. This love song focuses on the powerful experience of seeing someone’s face for the very first time.
In the lyrics, MacColl describes the impact of love through sensory imagery. He wrote the song for Peggy Seeger, his future wife. At the time, MacColl was still married to his second wife, and they were having an affair.
MacColl believed his lover’s beauty was as radiant as the rising sun, and her presence illuminated his world, symbolized by the moon and stars, as he sings, “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.”
He describes their first kiss as a feeling so intense that it seemed to make the earth tremble, symbolizing the powerful emotional connection between them.
The song is titled “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” because it focuses on the idea of love at first sight and that this initial encounter was a pivotal moment in the singer’s life, where he was profoundly struck by a woman’s beauty.
It suggests that this first encounter was a turning point, a moment of realization and emotional awakening in the singer’s life.

Jacob Carter is a lyricist. He created the lyrics writing course to teach people how to analyze and write lyrics. He graduated from the University of Oxford with a degree in English Literature, so he’s skilled at playing with words.
He’s also an amateur guitarist, which means he knows music and melody very well. With this background, he’s a great lyricist you can rely on to learn writing lyrics.