Let your heart be light

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.

One of my favorite stories ever in the Birmingham Post-Herald was a true holiday gem: the real tale of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

The song is lovely because it touches upon the wistfulness of the holiday season, almost a lament. And yet, it remains a personal favorite among all the Christmas classics.

Erin Shaw Street wrote this December 1999 story. Birmingham native Hugh Martin, the composer partnered with lyricist Ralph Blane, talks about tussling with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra over one little tune.

‘Merry Little Christmas’ was a merry little challenge

By Erin Shaw
Birmingham Post-Herald

The song “Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas” is as much part of the holidays as chestnuts roasting on an open fire and Santa Claus coming to town.

But the man who wrote the tune recalls that some not-so-merry dealings with Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra took place before it became the classic Christmas tune we know today.

Hugh Martin, a native of Birmingham, who is now 85 and retired in Encinitas, Calif., was a pianist working in radio when he landed a job in Hollywood in 1943 as a songwriter for the MGM film studio.

Martin was a newcomer to song writing. With only three Broadway songs behind him, Martin and his partner, Ralph Blane, agreed to write three songs for a movie starring Judy Garland.

The movie, “Meet Me in St. Louis,” required a song to match what Martin recalled as a “tearjerker scene” in which Garland’s character sings to her sister about the family having to move to New York.

Martin secluded himself in his office to write the song. For three days he labored, but he couldn’t get the melody the way he wanted it. Frustrated, he crumpled up the sheet music and started over.

But Blane, who worked in a separate room, had heard something through the walls that captured him.

“Ralph came into the room and said, ‘There’s a pretty little sparkle.’ ”

Martin replied that it was too late; he’d trashed the song.

“Fish it out of the trash bin,” Blane told him, “and work on it some more.”

Martin did just that and completed what he thought was a great song. It started out this way: “Have yourself a merry little Christmas/It may be your last/Next year we may all be living in the past…”

Then the tempestuous Garland heard the lyrics.

“If I sing that song to (co-star) Margaret O’Brien, I’ll sound like a monster,” Garland told Martin.

Garland asked him to rewrite the song, to make it sound a little happier — and that left Martin distinctly unhappy.

“I was mad. I was young. But she liked the melody, so I rewrote it,” Martin said.

The rewritten song again started out with “Have yourself a merry little Christmas,” but then followed with “Let your heart be light/From now on, our troubles will be out of sight.”

The song enjoyed some success in record sales and other artists began recording it.

The tinkering with the song wasn’t over, though.

A decade later, Frank Sinatra called Martin to ask if he could record the song on a Christmas album, which would be called “A Jolly Christmas.”

There was one catch, said Ol’ Blue Eyes. The song just wasn’t jolly enough. Could Martin lighten it up a bit?

The last stanza was the problem: “Some day, though, we all may be together/If the Fates allow/Until then we’ll have to muddle through somehow/So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.”

Martin was frantic.

How could he make this song, a sublime tune about the passing of another year, of deep friendships and bittersweet holidays, jolly?

He pondered this question during a visit home to Birmingham as he walked down tree-lined Highland Avenue.

He turned the last verse over and over in his head.

Some day, though, we all may be together, if the fates allow.

Then it came to him.

“There was a pretty tree and I thought, ‘Hang a shining star upon the highest bough.’ ”

Sinatra’s recording brought further acclaim to the song, solidifying it as an annual holiday favorite.

Martin doesn’t write much any more, and often takes long, relaxing walks without Garlands or Sinatras to worry about.

His song ranks as the sixth-most recorded holiday song of all time, according to the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Despite all the revisions, Martin said the song still evokes the feelings he tried to stir when he wrote it more than 50 years ago.

“It made a lot of people happy,” he said. “They cry because they are so happy.”

• • •

• Hugh Martin’s bio in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
• In an interview last week, Martin talks about
  another rewrite of the lyrics for a Christian version called “Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas.” Plus, an interview podcast.
• And he’s still honored for his career.
• The better-known version of the lyrics.
• Favorite renditions from Coldplay, Diana Krall, Shawn Colvin, Tori Amos (recently featured on Fox’s “Bones”) and, of course, Judy Garland.
• And if you’re ever in Encinitas, Calif. …

Sphere: Related Content

Also see:

lonely light

Symphonic sounds of the season

The reason for the season

a light came on

curse the darkness

Posted: Monday, December 19, 2005, 8:16 pm, in B'ham, Culture.
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