Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas is a song written by American musical composers and lyricists Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane for the musical film Meet Me in St. Louis in 1943 . The first interpretation of the piece was in the film by Judy Garland , numerous other recordings followed. The song is one of the most popular Christmas carols in America today . There are three different versions of the lyrics.
history
Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane were assigned to write three songs together for the 1944 film musical Meet Me in St. Louis . Although Martin and Blane share the legal authorship for the text and melody in Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas , Martin, as he writes in his 2010 autobiography, composed and wrote the lyrics on his own. The first line of text, in which he took up the melancholy mood of the film scene, was originally
|
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas |
Have a nice nice Christmas, |
When Judy Garland heard the song for the first time, she declined the lyrics, which was too sad for her, especially since she sang the song in the film to Margaret O'Brien , who was then seven years old . She liked the tune, but with the Second World War just taking place, she feared that the audience would not accept this kind of sadness. Then Martin and Blane changed the text to:
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Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas |
Have a nice nice Christmas, |
In this version Garland sang it for the film. The song is used in a Christmas scene in the musical Meet Me in St. Louis . The father had told the family that his law firm had moved him to New York City and that they would be moving after the Christmas break. Everyone is upset, but no one is more unhappy than the youngest daughter Tootie (played by Margaret O'Brien ). Her older sister Esther (played by Judy Garland) tries to placate her with the song, but it only expresses her own sadness. In this context, in effect Dur held ballad "very sad".
Later use
Numerous artists recorded their version of the song in the past few decades. One of the best-known is Frank Sinatra , who recorded a first version as early as 1947. He recorded the second version in 1957 for his album A Jolly Christmas . He wanted a livelier arrangement and asked Martin to change the penultimate line of the text Until then we'll have to muddle through somehow (analogous translation: Until then we have to somehow see how we get along ). Martin replaced the line with Hang a shining star upon the highest bough ( hang a shining star on the highest branch ). In Sinatra's version and with the changed text, the song was re-recorded more than a thousand times in the following years and became a classic of the Christmas season. But even with the original text, the song was interpreted by numerous artists.
Today the song is one of the most popular Christmas carols in the US and brings the rights holder EMI Publishing annual income between one and two million USD . On the one hand, this is due to the fact that the different versions of the song are performed on the radio and on television every year at Christmas time, and on the other hand, it is recorded and published as a Christmas song by different artists year after year. The song is also often used in Christmas films, for which production companies pay USD 25,000 or more, plus royalties for the soundtrack albums sold.
text
There are three different versions of the text. The original version is from 1943, the second is the version that was used in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis .
The third and best-known version is the version from 1957, modified at Frank Sinatra's request:
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 yuletide 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
Often an intro is also sung beforehand:
Christmas future is far away
Christmas past is past
Christmas present is here today
Bringing joy that will last.
Charts
Version by Lorna Luft & Judy Garland
| year | Charts |
|---|---|
 UK
|
|
| 1995/96 | 100 (1 week) |
Version by Michael Bublé
| year | Charts |
|---|---|
|
UK
|
|
| 2011/12 | 99 (1 week) |
Version by Rod Stewart
| year | Charts |
|---|---|
|
UK
|
|
| 2012/13 | 51 (2 weeks) |
Version by Sam Smith
| year | Chart placements | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
UK
|
 US
|
|
| 2014/15 | - | - | - | 65 (3 weeks) |
90 (1 week) |
| 2017/18 | 62 (1 week) |
69 (1 week) |
74 (1 week) |
93 (1 week) |
- |
| 2018/19 | 41 (2 weeks) |
48 (1 week) |
38 (1 week) |
79 (1 week) |
- |
| 2019/20 | 52 (1 week) |
51 (1 week) |
43 (1 week) |
67 (1 week) |
- |
| All in all | 41 (4 weeks) |
48 (3 weeks) |
38 (3 weeks) |
65 (6 weeks) |
90 (1 week) |
Version by Frank Sinatra
| year | Charts |
|---|---|
|
UK
|
|
| 2018/19 | 100 (1 week) |
| 2019/20 | 93 (1 week) |
| All in all | 93 (2 weeks) |
Footnotes
- ^ Hugh Martin: The Boy Next Door . Trolley Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-615-36507-7 .
- ^ A b Philip Furia, Laurie Patterson: The Songs of Hollywood . Oxford University Press, 2010, ISBN 978-0-19-533708-2 , pp. 144 f .
- ^ William Zinsser: Easy to Remember: The Great American Songwriters and their Songs . David R. Godine, 2006, ISBN 978-1-56792-325-4 , pp. 185 .
- ↑ a b c Chris Willman: There's Something About Merry. Entertainment Weekly , January 8, 2007, accessed November 20, 2012 .
- ^ A b Rich Stim: Music Law: How to Run Your Band's Business . Nolo, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4133-1056-6 , pp. 170 .
- ↑ Chart sources Lorna Luft & Judy Garland: UK
- ↑ Chart sources Michael Bublé: UK
- ↑ Chart sources Rod Stewart: UK
- ↑ Chart sources Sam Smith: DE AT CH UK US
- ↑ Chart sources Frank Sinatra: UK