button."Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
"Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis". The movie chronicles the change in seasons and times of St. Louis including the Christmas season. In the famous scene, Garland sings the tearful tune to child star Margaret O'Brien. The melancholy tune and lyrics were originally even more somber but were adapted by the song writers to the current version at Garland's request.
The first recorded version sung by Judy Garland in Meet Me In St. Louis (1944)
- 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 dear 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.
Alternate "brighter" version (Frank Sinatra version)
- (Introduction)
- Christmas future is far away
- Christmas past is past
- Christmas present is here today
- Bringing joy that may last
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
- Let your heart be light
- From now on,
- our troubles will be out of sight
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
- Make the Yule-tide gay,
- From now on,
- our troubles will be miles away.
- Here we are as in olden days,
- Happy golden days of yore.
- Faithful friends who are dear to us
- Gather near to us once more.
- Through the years
- We all will be together,
- If the Fates allow
- Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.
- And have yourself A merry little Christmas now.
James Taylor version (2001)
- (Introduction)
- Christmas future is far away
- Christmas past is past
- Christmas present is here today
- Bringing joy that may last
- (Refrain)
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas
- May your heart be light
- In a year our troubles will be out of sight
- From now on
- Have yourself a merry little Christmas
- Make the yuletide gay
- In a year our troubles will be miles away
- Here we are as in olden days
- Happy golden days of yore
- Precious friends who are dear to us
- Gather near to us once more
- I know that
- In a year we all will be together
- If the Lord allows
- Until then, we'll just have to muddle through somehow
- And have ourselves a merry little Christmas now.
An Early Draft
- 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.
Judy Garland felt some of the lyrics were too negative for a Christmas song and requested a rewrite but Hugh Martin initially refused and withdrew the song. Martin credits Meet Me in St. Louis actor Tom Drake for persuading him that Garland was right and it was a great song but needed another draft.
Later recorded versions combine lyrics from previous versions in accordance to the artist(s)' preference.
- A news release regarding NewSong's release of their 2001 Christmas album The Christmas Shoes noted a 1990 incident with youth pastor Michael O'Brien's visit to composer Hugh Martin. Martin admitted to O'Brien the original version had "Lord allows" instead of "fates allow", and the lyrics were changed to remove religious references. O'Brien, who later joined NewSong, had the group record the song with Martin's lyric.
Source: http://www.cbs.com/specials/christmas_shoes/band.shtml
Have Yourself A Blessed Little Christmas (Religious version, Del Delker version)
In 2001 the 86-year-old composer, occasionally active as a pianist with religious minstries since the 1980's, wrote an entirely new set of lyrics to the song with John Fricke, "Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas", a sacred version of the secular Christmas standard. The song was recorded by gospel female vocalist Del Delker with Martin accompanying her on piano.
Source: Hugh Martin interview http://www.vop.com/previous_broadcasts/2000/december_2000/s0052.html
