By Michael Stevenson

Our featured performer tonight on WRIU.org’s THE FRENCH CONNECTION is “Barbara” — one of the most important voices in French chanson.
Born Monique Andrée Serf, she performed under a single name – perhaps one name was all she needed.

Barbara sang quietly, often from behind a piano, trusting words, silences, and emotion more than volume. Elle chante vrai.

Many of Barbara’s songs are tied directly to her life — sometimes painfully so.
She was Jewish, spent years in hiding during World War II, and was abused and later abandoned by her father. Those experiences don’t always appear explicitly in her lyrics, but they echo in her songs. La mémoire est partout — memory is everywhere.

• PLAYLIST
  “La Femme d’Hector” (Brassens) 1956
  “Il Nous Faut Regarder” (Brel) 1956
  “Les Amis de Monsieur”, 1956
  “Dis, Quand Reviendras-tu”, 1964
  “Ma plus belle histoire d’amour”, 1967
  “Nantes”, 1964
  “La Solitude”, 1965
  “Göttingen”, 1965
  “Une Petite Cantate”, 1965
  “Mon Enface”, 1968
  – Martha Wainwright “Quand Reviendras-tu” (Barbara)
  – Francis Cabrel “Quand j’ame un fois j’aime pour toujours” (Desjardins)