Monique Andrée Serf (June 9, 1930 – November 24, 1997), whose stage name was Barbara, was a French singer. She took her stage name from her Russian grandmother, Varvara Brodsky. Born in Paris to a Jewish family, Barbara was ten years old when she had to go into hiding during the German occupation of France in World War II.
Une petite cantate
Du bout des doigts
Obsédante et maladroite
Monte vers toi
Une petite cantate
Que nous jouions autrefois
Seule, je la joue, maladroite
Si, mi, la, ré, sol, do, fa
Cette petite cantate
Fa, sol, do, fa
N’était pas si maladroite
Quand c’était toi
Les notes couraient faciles
Heureuses au bout de tes doigts
Moi, j’étais là, malhabile
Si, mi, la, ré, sol, do, fa
Mais tu est partie, fragile
Vers l’au-delà
Et je reste, malhabile
Fa, sol, do, fa
Je te revois souriante
Assise à ce piano-là
Disant “bon, je joue, toi chante
Chante, chante-la pour moi”
Si, mi, la, ré
Si, mi, la, ré
Si, sol, do, fa
Si, mi, la, ré
Si, mi, la, ré
Si, sol, do, fa
Oh mon amie, oh ma douce
Oh ma si petite à moi
Mon Dieu qu’elle est difficile
Cette cantate sans toi
Une petite prière
La, la, la, la
Avec mon coeur pour la faire
Et mes dix doigts
Une petite prière
Mais sans un signe de croix
Quelle offense, Dieu le père
Il me le pardonnera
Si, mi, la, ré . . .
Les anges, avec leur trompette
La jouerons, jouerons pour toi
Cette petite cantate
Que nous jouions autrefois
Les anges, avec leur trompette
La jouerons, jouerons pour toi
Cette petite cantate
Qui monte vers toi
Cette petite cantate
Qui monte vers toi
Si, mi, la, ré . . .
http://www.lyricsmania.com/
After the war ended, a neighborhood professor of music heard her sing and took an interest in helping her develop her talents. She was given vocal lessons and taught to play the piano, and eventually she enrolled at the Ecole Supérieure de Musique. Money was a problem and she gave up her musical studies to sing at “La Fontaine des Quatre Saisons,” a popular cabaret in Paris.
From 1950 to 1952, after her father’s desertion of her family, she lived in Brussels, where she became part of an active artistic community. Returning to Paris, she met Jacques Brel and became a lifelong friend, singing many of his songs. Later she met Georges Brassens, whose songs e.g. Pauvre Martin, she began to use in her act and to record on her first album. In the 1950s, she sang at some of the smaller clubs and began building a fan base, particularly with the young students from the Latin Quarter.
In the 1960s, she wrote her landmark song, “Ma plus belle histoire d’amour c’est vous”, – for her fans:
and “L’aigle noir”, about a dream, though some interpret it as being about abuse she suffered as a child:
“Nantes”, a visit to her father just before he died:
“Göttingen”, a German town, and credited with improving Franco – German relations:
“Dis, quand reviendras-tu?”:
“Une petite cantate” dedicated to her friend Liliane Bénelli, who was killed in a car crash.