I was thinking about how the lyrics to Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas fit for this Christmas so I read a little history on it. It was written for Judy Garland in Meet Me in St. Louis (1944). In this scene (video below) she’s singing it to her little sister who is sad because they have to move from their house.
I remember the version sung by Frank Sinatra on his album A Jolly Christmas because it was one of those records (or rather the 60s version of it below) we played in my house when I was growing up. He changed one line from Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow… to Hang a shining star upon the highest bough, which is poetic and more cheerful but perhaps misses the point of the song. The message is to put on a happy face and look toward a more hopeful time.
I always like to look at things in the historical context. In June of 1944 came D-Day, the invasion of Normandy. In September an airborne operation into Germany was an Allied failure and many Allied troops were taken prisoner. While The Siege of Leningrad had been broken earlier that year, over a million people had died because of it, mostly from starvation. I think we tend to look at that year now as a turning point in the war, but for the people then, it was a bleak time. They didn’t know how it would turn out. They didn’t know if the Germans and the Japanese would become dictators of the world or if the Allies would prevail. It must have been hard to hang on to hope. Therefore, I think this song was meant to convey more than just comforting a child who didn’t want to leave her home. It was meant to encourage everyone. What do you think?
