Le Chanson is a tough, muscular rendition of a composition first conceived in three dimensions by Villon's brother, Raymond Duchamp-Villon. Created in 1908 and titled Chanson, the sculpture was executed in both plaster and wood. Although the plaster has been lost, the wood version is now in the collection of The Art Institute of Chicago and it seems likely that Villon must have owned either of these versions when he created this painting. The oil is far more masculine than the naturalistic, lyrical sculpture produced by Duchamp-Villon; the tensions of the interlocking planes, the juxtapositions of shapes and the ambiguous definition of space give the painting a monumentality which is noticeably lacking in the sculpture.
The figures in the painting are perfectly balanced. It is interesting to note that Villon would frequently return to even his most successful paintings to rework them; here, for example, he has added extensive cross-hatching in pen and black ink. Discussing this practice and his reasons for it, he explained to Dora Vallier in 1957, "Parfois sur les couleurs, je reprends mon tableau à l'encre. C'est un accompagnement. La toile est déjà composée et l'accompagnement peut être libre sans nuire. Là je peux mettre un peu de mon coeur à moi". (J. Villon, Paris, 1957, p. 31.)