I love Christmastime!  It’s gloomy, it’s cold, and somewhere, inevitably, someone is washing down a glass of scotch in a darkly lit bar, listening to Judy Garland sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

What most people don’t realize is that the song, from Meet Me in St. Louis, was originally even more morbid; until Judy put the brakes on, asking the writer to tone things down a bit; declaring "'If I sing that to that sweet little Margaret O'Brien, they'll think I'm a monster!"

Now, when something was too bitter for Judy, you just know it had to be pretty morose.  But really – isn’t that what the holidays are all about?

In the words of Parker Posey, as ‘Dorleen’ on Will & Grace, “It's dark. It's glam. It's sad. It's Christmas.”

For all the deets behind the various versions of the song (original, Garland, Sinatra, etc…), read Chris Willman’s witty and informative article, as it ran in Entertainment Weekly, a half-dozen years ago, by clicking on the link, below.  It’s just a little nugget of Christmas joy.

Joyeux Noël!

“There’s Something About Merry” by Chris Willman
Entertainment Weekly – January 08, 2007
Click HERE to read article

Get into it!