I've been ordered by my friend Susan, the Queen of Christmas, not to get all "grinchy" on my blog this holiday season... but I must be permitted this one bit of holiday gloom. I recently read an article in Entertainment Weekly on the Christmas carol "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" and believe it or not, I was greatly amused by the story behind this popular song.It was first recorded in 1944 by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis and it's a bit somber. Yet this song had an even more sadistic version that preceded it. Check out the lyrics and see for yourself. Here's the Judy Garland version:
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas,
Let your heart be light
Next year,
All our troubles will be out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yuletide gay
Next year all our troubles will be miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who were near to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon we all will be together
If the fates allow.
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
And here's the original one that Garland refused to sing because it was just TOO depressing....
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 may 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 Lord allows.
From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.
3 comments:
Gee, do you think maybe the reason that 1944 X-mas song was all somber like that might have had to do with World War II and the fact that so many of America's young men were off fighting in Southern Europe, or getting ready to invade the beaches at Normandy, with less than perfect odds of coming back to the women left behind, at home, whose voice is represented in the song? Just a thought.
perhaps.
hmmmm.....
some things never change.
Carmen, ironically right after reading your post last night this song was featured on an NPR program and the writer of the song was interviewed. They addressed the change in lyrics. It was very interesting because it turns out that the song was originally written for Judy Garland (I think) to sing in a musical in 1944. In the plot of the musical two sisters are being forced to move across the country against their will so their dad can take a new job, and the lyrics fit with the plot of the musical, as one sister sings the song to another as they are moping around. The very, very first lyrics were even more morbid, but Garland protested and the song writer changed them to the lyrics you posted. Those are the lyrics used in the musical. A few years later Frank Sinatra came to the song writer and said that he really liked the song, but it was just not jolly enough, and requested another change in lyrics for his album, so the song writer changed them again, and later he changed them one more time, I think, so you often hear the song sung a few different ways with different lyrics by different people. Thanks for posting this. I would have never paid attention as closely when I was listening to them talk about this on NPR if I hadn't seen your post!
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