Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas was sung by Judy Garland in the film Meet Me in St. Louis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CreWsnhQwzY. In the film, Judy sings to cheer up her sister, given the family’s imminent move from their beloved home. It is, of course, a poignant performance. For those of you of different faiths, think of “Hanukkah” or “Yuletide” instead of “Christmas”, for that is the spirit of the song.
The lyrics are especially apt now, the year of the coronavirus:
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 are 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
The song had weighted meaning at the time, too. The movie was released in 1944, during World War II. Millions of men and women in the service were away from home. Those who heard the song knew it to be about their families being separated during the holidays.
There is another well-known version. Frank Sinatra thought the line “Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow” was too depressing (although there were earlier lyrics that were even sadder) and had it rewritten to “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough”. To me, that diminishes the message. The original line mirrors my view of humanity: Humans always muddle through somehow, not always with grace and always with missteps, but somehow making it through. So it is during the coronavirus time.
So have yourself a Merry Little Christmas now.
