Better known for his piano music and operatic works, Chabrier nevertheless has about 25 mélodies to his credit, of which those from 1890 are most popular. Though most were originally published separately, five have texts by husband-and-wife poets Rosemonde Gérard and Edmond Rostand (author of Cyrano de Bergerac). L'île heureuse sets a text by the young symbolist poet Ephraïm Mikhaël, co-librettist for Chabrier's opera Briseis. However, it seems the melodic line was originally intended for a setting of Gérard's Printemps. Mikhaël, though, was dying of tuberculosis, and died but a few months following the publication of L'île heureuse. It is entirely within Chabrier's character to have set the dying 24-year old's poem as a last act of friendship.

Chabrier jokingly referred to the "Villanelle des petits canards," "Ballade des gros dindons," and "Pastorale des cochons roses" as his "poultry collection." "Les cigales," however, should also be included with these "zoological romances." To the already witty texts, Chabrier added clever, humorous music. For example, the music between stanzas about the large turkeys in the ballade recalls the famous—and delicate—mandolin serenade from Mozart's Don Giovanni. At the time, this subtle and pointed humor was essentially unheard of in connection with the artistic mélodie, and did cause the composer some concern. Aware of how disconcerting this could be for a contemporary high-brow audience, he wrote that in order for the mélodies to be well-received, there must be "two artists, one at the piano and the other standing up, and no imbeciles in the audience." Chabrier dedicated his "poultry collection" to singers from the world of the café-concert and operetta, knowing that they were better suited to understand and convey the comedic aspects of the texts than their counterparts in grand opéra.

The composer did make an important exception to the above. "Toutes les fleurs" is dedicated to his friend, the famous Wagnerian tenor, Ernest Van Dyck. This mélodie is probably the most subtle of the set, and is really a parody. Chabrier himself called it "irresistible salon dribbling," and in a letter to Van Dyck, gave him hilarious instructions on how to give an over-the-top performance of it.

The Six Mélodies show Chabrier's considerable compositional skill and subtlety, as he quietly pushes the envelope of nineteenth century harmony, melody, and rhythm. They also pioneer a new direction for the erstwhile serious mélodie, a direction that doubtlessly inspired Ravel in his Histoires naturelles and many mélodies and chansons of Poulenc.

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