Chanson réaliste (French pronunciation: [ʃɑ̃sɔ̃ ʁealist], realist song) refers to a style of music performed in France primarily from the 1880s until the end of World War II.
[1][2] Influenced by literary realism and the naturalist movements in literature and theatre, chanson réaliste dealt with the lives of Paris's poor and working-class.
Bruant began a career at Le Chat Noir in 1885 and his vaudeville-inspired mix of song, satire and entertainment became very popular with the bourgeoisie slumming in the poorer Montmartre district.
[4][10] The chanson réaliste sentimentalised the plight of poor and dispossessed women, such as prostitutes, waitresses, failed singers in cheap bars, orphans, single mothers and the like.
[3] Piaf, for example, was known for her waif-like stage presence and became tightly identified with her role;[11] she was, however, critical of the style:[3] I don't like realist songs...For me they're vulgar tunes with blokes wearing cloth caps and girls plying their trade on the streets.