VIOLIN I
VIOLIN II
CELLO
BASS
The Story of
"Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas"
By Will Friedwald
Contributor
on 12.08.08 in Spotlights
"Have Yourself a Merry
Little Christmas"
By Will Friedwald
Contributor
on 12.08.08 in Spotlights
HAVE YOURSELF A
MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
From: Meet Me in St. Louis
Sung by Judy Garland
MERRY LITTLE CHRISTMAS
From: Meet Me in St. Louis
Sung by Judy Garland
More than most songs of the holiday season,
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has
been a perennial favorite for 65 years because,
in contrast to the title, it's more than just a
Merry Little Christmas song. This isn't merely
another Santa-mental jolly tune describing
reindeer and elves. Rather, it conveys the
undercurrent of melancholy and sadness that
is the flipside of holiday jollity. It's that most
extraordinary of things, a Merry Christmas
jingle in a minor key – if Rodgers and Hart had
written a Christmas song, this would be it.
The song was written for the 1944
Meet Me in St. Louis,
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" has
been a perennial favorite for 65 years because,
in contrast to the title, it's more than just a
Merry Little Christmas song. This isn't merely
another Santa-mental jolly tune describing
reindeer and elves. Rather, it conveys the
undercurrent of melancholy and sadness that
is the flipside of holiday jollity. It's that most
extraordinary of things, a Merry Christmas
jingle in a minor key – if Rodgers and Hart had
written a Christmas song, this would be it.
The song was written for the 1944
Meet Me in St. Louis,
which was recognized by the
American Film Institute as one
of the ten all-time greatest
Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane,
 |
| Hugh Martin, right, with songwriting partner Ralph Blane in the 1940's. |
the song is integral to the film's plot, in which
a family living in St. Louis at the turn of the century
is compelled to relocate to New York.
They're distraught at the prospect of
leaving their beloved home town at the
time of the year when most traditional
families would normally be returning
home rather than leaving there.
Martin and Blane did a marvelous job mixing
the two emotions and came up with a
surprisingly potent Christmas cocktail. Hugh
Martin had originally been an arranger and
singer in a vocal quartet called the Martins,
and producer Arthur Freed
is compelled to relocate to New York.
They're distraught at the prospect of
leaving their beloved home town at the
time of the year when most traditional
families would normally be returning
home rather than leaving there.
Martin and Blane did a marvelous job mixing
the two emotions and came up with a
surprisingly potent Christmas cocktail. Hugh
Martin had originally been an arranger and
singer in a vocal quartet called the Martins,
and producer Arthur Freed
had admired the
way he was able to
way he was able to
take a traditional piece
of material like "Skip to My
Lou" and modernize it in a hip
and contemporary fashion. The two
generally worked as a team, and individually
within that team; Martin wrote most if not all
of "Merry Little Christmas" himself.
of material like "Skip to My
Lou" and modernize it in a hip
and contemporary fashion. The two
generally worked as a team, and individually
within that team; Martin wrote most if not all
of "Merry Little Christmas" himself.
Although much of the score to Meet Me in
St. Louis consisted of authentic period
music, Martin and Blane were asked to
write three new songs. They proceeded
to bat 1.000; all three became instant hits,
and, over the long haul, popular classics:
"The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door"
and "Have Yourself
Merry Little Christmas."
Ironically, "Merry Little Christmas"
almost didn’t make it into the picture. Martin
and Blane wrote the song for leading lady
Judy Garland
to sing to child actress
Margaret O'Brien,
playing her younger sister. The original
lyric by Martin and Blane was, as RalphBlane later told film historian Hugh Fordin:
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
It may be your last.
Next year we will all be living in the past."
The song was supposed to be poignant, but this
was downright depressing. The first to realize
this was Garland herself, who refused to sing
"Merry Little Christmas" in its original state. She
pointed out that the minor key melody sounded
sad, the bittersweet lyric was very sad and the
scene itself in the film was even sadder. She
was convinced that it was just too much of a
downer, and the audience would soon start
leaving the theater. However, Martin stuck to
his guns and would not consider changing the
words. With Garland refusing to sing it and
Martin refusing to alter the lyric, it looked like
the entire song would be dropped. Finally, the
leading man, Tom Drake,
talked some sense
into Martin, convincing
him that this was a really
great song which could be
very important – but not if it
wasn’t in the film! Martin and
Blane relented and changed the
lyric to the slightly more optimistic
one we know today,
"Let your heart be light
Next year all your troubles will
be out of sight."
The boy next door was right. "Merry Little
Christmas" was the hit of the film and an
Academy Award nominee. Just as Meet Me
in St. Louis, was the first great Americana
musical (in the wake of Oklahoma!) to capture
the patriotic mood of the WWII era, "Merry Little
Christmas" was the first great Christmas song
to follow Irving Berlin’s "White Christmas" (1942).
And, like Berlin’s song, it was universal in its
appeal. Over the next seven decades, "Merry
Little Christmas" was sung not only by nearly
every notable traditional pop vocalist on every
Christmas album or TV special ever made, but
also by hundreds of country singers, soul
singers, opera singers and even rock bands
and the Muppets.
No one was more patriotic than Hugh Martin
himself. As he later told singer-scholar
Michael Feinstein, after his work on
the score was completed, Martin
enlisted in the U.S. army.
One day, a few months later, Martin was
marching on maneuvers when he happened
to hear his own tune, "The Trolley Song" being
played by a military band. He turned and said
to the GI marching next to him, "Hey! I wrote
that!," at which point the soldier called back to
him, "Yeah! And I’m Myrna Loy!"
Meet Me in St. Louis
Part One
(Lux Radio Theater)
Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien
Christmas" was the hit of the film and an
Academy Award nominee. Just as Meet Me
in St. Louis, was the first great Americana
musical (in the wake of Oklahoma!) to capture
the patriotic mood of the WWII era, "Merry Little
Christmas" was the first great Christmas song
to follow Irving Berlin’s "White Christmas" (1942).
And, like Berlin’s song, it was universal in its
appeal. Over the next seven decades, "Merry
Little Christmas" was sung not only by nearly
every notable traditional pop vocalist on every
Christmas album or TV special ever made, but
also by hundreds of country singers, soul
singers, opera singers and even rock bands
and the Muppets.
No one was more patriotic than Hugh Martin
himself. As he later told singer-scholar
Michael Feinstein, after his work on
the score was completed, Martin
enlisted in the U.S. army.
One day, a few months later, Martin was
marching on maneuvers when he happened
to hear his own tune, "The Trolley Song" being
played by a military band. He turned and said
to the GI marching next to him, "Hey! I wrote
that!," at which point the soldier called back to
him, "Yeah! And I’m Myrna Loy!"
Meet Me in St. Louis
Part One
(Lux Radio Theater)
Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien
Meet Me in St. Louis
Part Two
(Lux Radio Theater)
Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien