Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

This article is about the song. For Kurt Nilsen album, see Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (album). For the House episode, see Merry Little Christmas.

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (song)"
Music by	Ralph Blane
Lyrics by	Hugh Martin
Published	1943, 1944; alternate lyrics added by Martin 1957; copyright renewed 1971, 1972[1]
Language	English
Form	Christmas music
Original artist	Judy Garland[2] in the 1944 musical Meet Me in St. Louis
Recorded by	Jackie Gleason (1956), Frank Sinatra (1957), Connie Francis (1959), and Ella Fitzgerald (1960) among others

"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a song introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical Meet Me in St. Louis. Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics, which has become more common than the original. The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane. In 2007, ASCAP ranked "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" the third most performed Christmas song during the preceding five years that had been written by ASCAP members.^[3]

Meet Me in St. Louis

The song was written while Martin was vacationing in a house in Birmingham, Alabama, that his father Hugh Martin^[4] designed for his mother as a honeymoon cottage. The house was located in the Southside section of the city, across the street from Hugh's mother and right beside her aunt. The song first appeared in a scene in Meet Me in St. Louis, in which a family is distraught by the father's plans to move to New York City for a job promotion, leaving behind their beloved home in St. Louis, Missouri just before the long-anticipated Louisiana Purchase Exposition begins. In a scene set on Christmas Eve, Judy Garland's character, Esther, sings the song to cheer up her despondent five-year-old sister, Tootie, played by Margaret O'Brien.^[5]

The sentimental setting of the tune in the finished scene features understated orchestration by Conrad Salinger and musical direction of Georgie Stoll.^{[citation needed]}

However, when presented with the original draft lyric, Garland, her co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli criticized the song as depressing:^[1]

Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last,
Next year we may all be living in the past
Have yourself a merry little Christmas, pop that champagne cork,
Next year we will all be living in New York.

No good times like the olden days, happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who were dear to us, will be near to us no more.

But at least we all will be together, if the Fates allow,
From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

Though he initially resisted, songwriter Hugh Martin made several changes to make the song more upbeat. For example, the lines "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past" became "Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight".^[1] Garland's version of the song, which was also released as a single by Decca Records, became popular among United States troops serving in World War II; her performance at the Hollywood Canteen brought many soldiers to tears.^[6]

Subsequent recorded versions

Jackie Gleason recorded the song for his 1956 album Merry Christmas.^[7]

In 1957, Frank Sinatra asked Martin to revise the line "Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow". He told Martin, "The name of my album is A Jolly Christmas. Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?"^[1] Martin's new line, "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough," has since become more widely recognized and sung than the original phrase. Martin made several other alterations, changing the song's focus to a celebration of present happiness, rather than anticipation of a better future. On The Judy Garland Show Christmas Special, Judy sings to her children Joey and Lorna Luft with Sinatra's alternate lyric.^{[citation needed]}

Although the 1957 rewrite is the most familiar to listeners today, the Judy Garland lyrics have been recorded by a number of artists, including Sinatra himself (in 1950 and 1963 single recordings), Doris Day (in The Doris Day Christmas Album), Ella Fitzgerald (in Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas), and James Taylor (in October Road).^[1] Connie Francis recorded the song for her 1959 album Christmas in My Heart.^[8]

The Partridge Family released a version of the song on their 1971 album, A Partridge Family Christmas Card.

The Muppets recorded this song on several occasions including Bert and Ernie for the TV special Christmas Eve on Sesame Street (1978), John Denver and Rowlf the Dog for John Denver and the Muppets: A Christmas Together (1979), and Kermit the Frog for the album The Muppets: A Green and Red Christmas (2006).

Chicago recorded the song for their first Christmas album, Chicago XXV (1998).

LeAnn Rimes recorded the song on her first Christmas album, What a Wonderful World (2004).

The Cheetah Girls recorded the song on the Disney Channel Holiday (2007) compilation album.

Neil Sedaka recorded the song for his 2008 first-ever holiday album, The Miracle of Christmas.

Filipino pop crooner Richard Poon recorded the song from his 2011 Christmas Album, Christmas With Richard Poon.

Religious lyrics

In 2001 the 86-year-old composer Hugh Martin, occasionally active as a pianist with religious ministries since the 1980s, wrote an entirely new set of lyrics to the song with John Fricke, "Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas", a religious version of the secular Christmas standard. The song was recorded by gospel female vocalist Del Delker with Martin accompanying her on piano.^[9]

In 2002, NewSong lead singer Michael O'Brien noted the line "through the years, we all will be together if the Lord allows," which was part of the original song, was purged and replaced with "if the fates allow" to remove religious reference when the song was released. He noted while a pastor in a California church in 1990, he had met Martin, who played piano at the church where O'Brien was serving for an evening, and the pastor was told, "That's the original way I wrote it, so I want you to sing it this way." ^[10] In addition to NewSong, Rachael Lampa, Twila Paris, Kathy Troccoli, Phil Wickham, and BarlowGirl have recorded the song with the original lyrics.^{[citation needed]}

In other languages

• Monica Forsberg has written lyrics in Swedish, "Det är dags att tända alla ljusen" ("It is time to light all the candles"), which has been recorded by Lasse Berghagen.^{[citation needed]}

In popular culture

• A Frank Sinatra recording of the song accompanies a scene in the 1963 war film The Victors, in which a military deserter is executed by firing squad.
• The song is also used in The Godfather during the Christmas scenes.
• A recording by Jerry Vale is featured in the film Donnie Brasco.
• Mel Tormé's version is featured prominently in Home Alone.
• The version by saxophonist Kenny G is featured in the 1994 remake of Miracle on 34th Street.
• Ska-punk group Big D and the Kids Table released a Boston-themed parody titled "A Wicked Hardcore Christmas" in 2008.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e} Willman, Chris (2006-12-22). "There's Something About Merry". Entertainment Weekly. http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,1569872,00.html. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 
2. ^ Studwell, William Emmett (1995). "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas". The Christmas carol reader. Routledge. p. 136. ISBN 1560238720. http://books.google.com/books?id=exsaNxcGrkMC&pg=PA136&dq=Have+Yourself+a+Merry+Little+Christmas&cd=4#v=onepage&q=Have%20Yourself%20a%20Merry%20Little%20Christmas&f=false. 
3. ^ "ASCAP Announces Top 25 Holiday Songs" (Press release). ASCAP. 2007-11-12. http://www.ascap.com/press/2007/111207_holiday.aspx. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 
4. ^ Martin Huge Cottage
5. ^ Dirks, Tim (1996). "Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)". The Greatest Films. http://www.filmsite.org/meetm.html. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 
6. ^ Collins, Ace (2001). Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan. pp. 78–79. ISBN 0310239265. 
7. ^ Merry Christmas by Jackie Gleason & His Orchestra from AllMusic
8. ^ Christmas in My Heart by Connie Francis from AllMusic
9. ^ "The Carpenter and the King". The Voice of Prophesy. http://www.vop.com/previous_broadcasts/2000/december_2000/s0052.html. Retrieved 2007-12-21. 
10. ^ CBS.COM - The Christmas Shoes from CBS

External links

• Entertainment Weekly article - with the history of the song's lyrics, including three different versions