Originally, chanson is a French vocal musical genre. As far as the topics of the songs are concerned, the chanson is characterised by exhibiting serious themes, and lyrical poetry accompanies the music. Oftentimes chansons are musicalised poems and, as such, they exhibit lyrical and, less frequently, epic verses. The genre of the chanson was born in France at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries and was first performed in cabarets. Initially, chansons had piano music accompanying the vocal performer. As a rule, chansons strove to offer light entertainment and often featured emotional, ribald or humorous texts of poetic quality.

Already back in the 14th century, the French word ‘chanson’ used to describe songs, but at that time the word would denote a genre featuring solo or choral secular pieces. In addition, chansons are also seen as antecedents to the genre of playful and mischievous songs performed in French orpheum theatres.