The French singer Barbara, born Monique Andrée Serf in 1930, died in 1997. After becoming seriously ill in 1994, she stopped performing and wrote some fragments and notes for an autobiography that was published posthumously as ‘Il etait un piano noir’. In it she describes how from as early as she could remember she wanted to play the piano and sing; because there was no piano in the house, she mimicked playing on the table while making up songs.
Like so many of the great artists, she discovered her vocation young and was single-minded in her pursuit of it, refusing to do anything else, even when presented with great obstacles like poverty and homelessness. Being Jewish, her and her family had to go into hiding during the Second World War but, miraculously, they all survived, despite the family being scattered and broken up several times.
In her autobiography she describes how her father sexually abused her between the ages of ten and thirteen. Her mother did not believe her and nobody else wanted to know. Eventually, during a family holiday in Brittany, she escaped from her father and ran to the local police station and reported what her father did to her. As was common at that time, the police also refused to believe her and after her father arrived and told them that she was a fantasist, they returned her to his ‘care’.
Later her father abandoned the family and completely disappeared, attempting to contact her only once more, when he was on his death bed. The latter episode is the subject of another of her songs, Nantes.
This song L’Aigle Noir (The Black Eagle) refers back to those episodes of sexual abuse and her relationship with her father. As well as being awed by the power and beauty of this magnificent creature that drops down on her from the sky, she is also nostalgic to return to her childhood when his presence meant everything to her, when he used to light up the sun, was the maker of rain and miracles. In that ambiguity of emotions, you can sense the betrayal of trust felt by a young girl who idolised and loved her father but whose love was abused.
This song reportedly sold a million copies in 12 hours.
L’Aigle Noir, Barbara
| Un beau jour ou peut-être une nuit |
| One beautiful day or maybe a night |
| Près d’un lac je m’étais endormie |
| Close to a lake, I was trying to sleep |
| Quand soudain, semblant crever le ciel |
| When suddenly, seeming to burst the sky |
| Et venant de nulle part, |
| And coming from nowhere |
| Surgit un aigle noir. |
| Appeared a black eagle. |
| Lentement, les ailes déployées, |
| Slowly, it spread its wings |
| Lentement, je le vis tournoyer |
| Slowly, I saw it whirl around |
| Près de moi, dans un bruissement d’ailes, |
| Close to me, with a rustle of wings, |
| Comme tombé du ciel |
| As if it fell from heaven |
| L’oiseau vint se poser. |
| The bird settled down. |
| Il avait les yeux couleur rubis |
| He had eyes the colour of rubies |
| Et des plumes couleur de la nuit |
| And feathers the colour of night |
| À son front, brillant de mille feux, |
| On his forehead, shining brightly |
| L’oiseau roi couronné |
| The bird king crowned |
| Portait un diamant bleu. |
| Wore a blue diamond. |
| De son bec, il a touché ma joue |
| With his beak, he touched my cheek |
| Dans ma main, il a glissé son cou |
| In my hand, he slipped his neck |
| C’est alors que je l’ai reconnu |
| Which was how I recognised him |
| Surgissant du passé |
| Arising from the past |
| Il m’était revenu. |
| He had returned to me. |
| Dis l’oiseau, O dis, emmène-moi |
| Tell me, bird, O tell me, carry me away |
| Retournons au pays d’autrefois |
| Let us return to the country of the past |
| Comme avant, dans mes rêves d’enfant, |
| Like before, in my childhood dreams, |
| Pour cueillir en tremblant |
| To gather, trembling, |
| Des étoiles, des étoiles. |
| The stars, the stars. |
| Comme avant, dans mes rêves d’enfant, |
| Like before, in my childhood dreams, |
| Comme avant, sur un nuage blanc, |
| Like before, on a white cloud, |
| Comme avant, allumer le soleil, |
| Like before, light up the sun, |
| Être faiseur de pluie |
| Be the maker of rain |
| Et faire des merveilles. |
| And perform wonders. |
| L’aigle noir dans un bruissement d’ailes |
| The black eagle, with a rustle of wings, |
| Prit son vol pour regagner le ciel, |
| Took his flight to regain the sky, |
| Quatre plumes, couleur de la nuit, |
| Four feathers, the colour of the night, |
| Une larme, ou peut-être un rubis. |
| A tear, or maybe a ruby. |
| J’avais froid, il ne me restait rien |
| I was cold, I was left with nothing |
| L’oiseau m’avait laissée |
| The bird had left me |
| Seule avec mon chagrin. |
| Alone with my sorrow. |
| Un beau jour, ou était-ce une nuit |
| One beautiful day or was it a night |
| Près d’un lac je m’étais endormie |
| Close to a lake, I was trying to sleep |
| Quand soudain, semblant crever le ciel |
| When suddenly, seeming to burst the sky |
| Et venant de nulle part, |
| And coming from nowhere |
| Surgit un aigle noir. |
| Appeared a black eagle. |