Monday, December 20, 2010

Soundtrack Songs (Holiday Edition): Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

meet_me_in_st_louis


Judy Garland: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

[purchase]

Liz Story: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

[purchase]

Tom Scott: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

[purchase]

This Christmas standard was first introduced to the world by Judy Garland in Meet Me In St. Louis. The original lyrics, which reflected the film's plotline of the family facing an unwanted move to New York, had fairly depressing lyrics to begin with: Have yourself a merry little Christmas, it may be your last, Next year we may all be living in the past. Garland and the director (her future husband, Vincent Minnelli) persuaded the songwriter to make it a little cheerier, and the rest, as they say, is history.

It's been covered approximately a bajillion times since the 1944 film. Here are two: one's a smooth jazz sax version by Tom Scott, for GRP's first Christmas album. The second is new age piano by Liz Story, recorded at Windham Hill Records in 1994.

blog comments powered by Disqus