The chanson tells of a telephone conversation between the Marquise (a French aristocratic title) and her servant James. The latter tells her step by step about a chain of misfortunes - from the dead mare and the fire in the stables to the suicide of her husband and the burnt-down castle - but always assures her: “Mais à part ça, Madame la Marquise, tout va très bien, tout va très bien.” (Otherwise, Mrs. Marquise, everything is going very well, everything is going very well). The humour lies in the absurd minimization of disasters.
The song sold over a million copies and won the Grand Prix du Disque in 1936, awarded by the magazine Candide. The song became a proverbial expression in France, describing blindness and denial in the face of crises.