[1] Levenslied lyrics can be sweet or bitter, light and sentimental, but also reflective and dark, about subjects such as love, misery and far-away, sunny, exotic holiday places.

The darker, more sentimental songs are also known as "smartlap" ("sorrow bandage").

The levenslied is related to the chanson though for a lower-class audience, like the schlager.

A typical levenslied has catchy, simple rhythms and melodies and is built up in couplets and refrains.

[citation needed] Three cities in the Netherlands, Breda,[2] Tilburg and Nijmegen, have annual Levenslied festivals.