The history of, and story behind, ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’

We all have our favorite Christmas songs. Maybe yours is “All I Want For Christmas is You.” Or, if you prefer a classic, it might be “The First Noel.” Maybe you simply love Elvis and howl along to “Blue Christmas” every year.

My favorite Christmas song is “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” Equal parts sad and hopeful, the song has seen many iterations and covers over the years. And the history behind “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is an interesting one — and a bit darker than you might expect.

Here’s the story behind the classic Christmas song.

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What movie has the song ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’?

“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was first sung in the 1944 classic “Meet Me in St. Louis,” starring Judy Garland, Mary Astor, Lucille Bremer, Tom Drake and more.

The film follows the Smith family, who live in St. Louis, as they navigate life over the course of a year. Eldest daughter Rose (Bremer) hopes for a proposal form Warren Sheffield; daughter Esther (Garland) falls in love with her next door neighbor, John; youngest daughter Tootie (Margaret O’Brien) navigates her childhood.

Looming over all this is Mr. Smith’s (Leon Ames) decision to move the family to New York for business. To comfort a distraught Tootie, who worries that Santa Claus won’t find her family if they leave St. Louis, Esther sings “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ original

Who wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’?

The song was written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane specifically for Garland in “Meet Me in St. Louis.” As Martin told NPR in 1989, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” “began with the melody.”

“I found a little madrigal-like tune that I liked but couldn’t make work, so I played with it for two or three days and then threw it in the wastebasket,” Martin said.

But Blane told Martin that the song was “too good to throw away,” per NPR.

“We dug around the wastebasket and found it,” Blane said. “Thank the Lord we found it.”

The first version ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ was too depressing

Before Garland sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” in “Meet Me in St. Louis,” Martin and Blane had to make a few revisions.

According to Vice, the original lyrics read: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / It may be your last / Next year we may all be living in the past.”

As Martin told NPR, the original lyrics were deemed too depressing for the film. “The (film producers) said, ‘No, no — it’s a sad scene, but we want sort of an upbeat song, which will make it even sadder if she’s smiling through her tears.”

In Martin’s memoir “The Boy Next Door,” he reveals that Garland also objected to the too-sad lyrics. He wrote, “The original version was so lugubrious that Judy Garland refused to sing it. She said, ‘If I sing that, little Margaret will cry and they’ll think I’m a monster.’”

Eventually, the songwriters revised the lyrics to: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas / Let your heart be light / Next year all our troubles will be out of sight.”

Who really wrote ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’?

While both Blane and Martin received songwriting credits for “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Martin claims in his memoir that he was the sole writer the song, as Entertainment Weekly wrote in 2006.

In his memoir, Martin wrote that “all of the so-called Martin and Blane songs, (except for ‘Best Foot Forward’), were written entirely by me (solo) without help from Ralph or anybody else.” He claims that he let Blane receive credit for the music because of “my naive and atrocious lack of business acumen.”

Frank Sinatra’s 1957 rendition of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’

After the lyrics change in 1944, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” went through yet another revision — this time, to appease Ol’ Blue Eyes himself.

According to Martin, Frank Sinatra asked him to make the song a little happier in 1957. ”He called to ask if I would rewrite the ‘muddle through somehow’ line,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly in 2006. “He said, ‘The name of my album is “A Jolly Christmas.’ Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?’”

Martin obliged, changing the lyrics from “until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow” to “hang a shining star upon the highest bough.”

While the Sinatra version is perhaps the most popular version of the song, multiple modern renditions still use the original lyrics. “It’s been a little confusing,” Martin told Entertainment Weekly, “because half the people sing one line and half sing the other.”

Martin prefers the original lyric. “It’s just so kind of … down-to-earth,” he said.

The 5 best covers of ‘Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’

While nothing will likely ever top Garland’s original version of the song, here are five memorable covers of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

5. Egg

If you’re looking for a sadder version of the song — drawing on the song’s original, darker tone — you’ll appreciate Egg’s rendition of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” It uses Martin and Blane’s sadder lyrics, before the change made for “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

4. Sam Smith

I have always been a fan of Sam Smith’s earlier work — which leaned toward R&B — and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” suits Smith’s voice perfectly. It’s a simple version of the song, with only a piano providing accompaniment, but it works beautifully.

3. Amy Grant

Unlike the other covers on this list, Amy Grant’s cover of the song brings the drama. Grant is accompanied by a sweeping orchestra and sings through the lyrics with melancholy and hope.

2. Ella Fitzgerald

Ella Fitzgerald’s 1960 version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” breathes fun in the otherwise melancholy song. It’s jazzy, light and playful, and Fitzgerald’s voice drifts through the song with punchiness and ease.

1. Samara Joy

While Grammy-winning jazz singer Samara Joy puts brings a jazz twist to the song, akin to Fitzgerald’s version, Joy’s version is much gentler. Her warm voice suits the song beautifully, making this version perfect to play on a cold winter night.