I grew up with the Roberta Flack version (didn't know the original or the later versions). I felt sure that I'd prefer the one I knew, but Lori Lieberman's rendition is my clear favorite. Roberta Flack may be the better vocalist, but I much prefer Lieberman's voice--listen to her clear, pure but passionate vowels. She's less dramatic than the other two vocalists, but I think more sincere and more committed to the story told in the song. Lieberman's persona (the personage she creates with her interpretation) is a listener overtaken by the singing and directness of the young man singing. The experience provokes her into singing as well, in her own confessional way. The persona is also honest about the shambles of her own life that the singer penetrates (notice how she interprets the phrase "dark despair"). Roberta Flack and the Fugees singer aren't in the audience, they're on stage belting out the tune; the young man in their versions could have been anyone--a dog walker, for example ("I saw him with his dog pack...").

I also prefer the orchestration of the earliest version--delicate and graceful. Even the string section doesn't sound schmaltzy, as is often the case. The opening of Flack's hit is in contrast overproduced and phony (not Flack's fault of course). Given the story within the lyrics, it's fitting that the song should end on a minor chord--singer and listener aren't exactly walking out of the concert holding hands.

So Lori Lieberman's version is my favorite. Thank you for introducing me to it (decades later but better late than not at all) and for your insightful comments and background.