Page "Chanson" Paragraph 9

Another offshoot of chanson called chanson réaliste ( realist song ), was a popular musical genre in France, primarily from the 1880s until the end of World War II.

Born of the cafés-concerts and cabarets of the Montmartre district of Paris and influenced by literary realism and the naturalist movements in literature and theatre, chanson réaliste was a musical style which was mainly performed by women and dealt with the lives of Paris's poor and working class.

Some of the more well-known performers of the genre include Damia, Fréhel and Édith Piaf.