”Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas”

Chris Marchand's blog post "On the Importance of Sad Christmas
Songs" makes the argument its title promises, using "Have
Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" as Exhibit A. Podcaster and
writer Chris Marchand last appeared on Twelve Songs to break down
Sufjan Stevens' Christmas albums, and this week he returns to
talk about "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." 


The song written for Judy Garland to sing in the movie Meet
Me in St. Louis was too bleak in her mind for the situation, so
it was revised to be merely guarded and tentative. We have her
version, a performance of the original lyrics, and a few that
followed to see how artists handle the song's mood and message.