By Mary Davis
"'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas' manages to be happy and sad at the same time, hopeful but full of melancholy, as all the best Christmas songs are.”—Bette Midler
I know, it’s a bit early for Christmas, but I start listening to Christmas songs in October. It’s such uplifting music, why relegate it to a single month?
“Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” was written in 1943 by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane as part of the movie score for Meet Me In St. Louis. The movie, which doesn’t have a Christmas theme, released in 1944. Esther, played by Judy Garland, sang this to her little sister on Christmas Eve to cheer her up about moving to New York. Her five-year-old sister was afraid Santa wouldn’t be able to find her. Garland’s character was equally sad at being separated from her love.
The lyrics went through various changes over the years. The first was because of Judy Garland’s refusal to sing the song. When she read the lyrics, she found one of the lines horrifying as written. She felt the little sister would think her a monster and threatened to walk off the set.
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The line she took issue with said this could be the last merry Christmas. Because this was in the middle of WW2, Garland felt it would depress people who were hoping for their loved ones to return safely from war. She was a big USO performer, and the troops always shouted requests for Over the Rainbow because it brought hope. Rather than Oz, it was about home to them.
Though Martin initially refused to change the line, he eventually did to a more neutral line about a light heart and no more troubles. Satisfied with the change, Garland sang the new version in the movie.
Judy Garland movie version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CreWsnhQwzY
“On the night Judy first sang the song to troops at the Hollywood Canteen, many battle-tested soldiers cried. When weary soldiers in Europe and the Pacific heard the song over their unit’s radio, they clung to its lyrics as if the words defined their dreams. It was as if Judy were singing directly to them, bringing hope wrapped in a package that was both significant and beautiful.”—Ace Collins, Stories Behind the Greatest Hits of Christmas
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In 1957, Frank Sinatra asked for another rewrite. (Ironically, he had already recorded the movie’s version in 1948.) His yet to be released album was titled A Jolly Christmas. He wanted a more positive slant to the song so asked for the line about muddling through to be more upbeat. “Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?” It became the line about a star being hung on a high bough. Martin also changed from future tense to present tense to focus on current good times rather than only hoping for a brighter future.
Sinatra 1957 version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tJtsKngXJU
To see the original lyrics as well as the Garland and Sinatra versions, go HERE. (https://ew.com/article/2007/01/08/history-popular-holiday-song/) I have not included them in this article due to copyrights.
In 2001, Hugh Martin and John Fricke wrote all new lyrics with a religious theme, Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas. In a 2002 interview, Michael O’Brien, lead singer of NewSong, said he had met Martin in 1990. Martin had told him that the “fates” allowing line had originally been about the “Lord” allowing but was changed so the song was more secular.
I never knew this song had so many lyrics changed over the years. Did you? Which version do you prefer?
Mary lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband of thirty-seven years and one cat. She has three adult children and three incredibly adorable grandchildren. Find her online at: Books2Read Newsletter Blog FB FB Readers Group Amazon GoodReads BookBub
Sources
Stories Behind The Greatest Hits Of Christmas, by Ace Collins
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Have_Yourself_a_Merry_Little_Christmas
https://ew.com/article/2007/01/08/history-popular-holiday-song/
Thank you for posting today, although personally I'm not ready to think about Christmas music yet. I did find it interesting that there were so many rewrites of the lyrics. When I'm ready to listen to that kind of music I will check out the different versions!
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