Unlike some of her cutesy, teeny-bopping '60s peers, Barbara's nimble chanson was suffused with a deep and very real sadness. As a child born to Jewish parents in Paris, she went into hiding during WW2, during which time she was abused by her father. With the war over, she escaped to Brussels and a community of likeminded musicians who helped channel her experiences into song. And thank goodness they did: The often muted piano music, combined with her bold, complex vocal melodies, is utterly hypnotic and almost psychedelic—and despite her troubled upbringing, seldom short on love.