Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blaine and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis". The movie chronicles the change in seasons and times of St. Louis including the Christmas season. In the famous scene, Garland sings the tearful tune to child star Margaret O'Brien. The melancholy tune and lyrics were originally even more somber but were adapted by the song writers to the current version at Garlands request.

Lyrics

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Let your heart be light

From now on,

our troubles will be out of sight

Have yourself a merry little Christmas,

Make the Yule-tide gay,

From now on,

our troubles will be miles away.

Here we are as in olden days,

Happy golden days of yore.

Faithful friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more.

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.

Original lyrics

These lyrics were deemed by Garland and Minelli as inappropriate for the scene in the movie and are rarely heard or used today. The songwriters, Martin and Blaine, felt that the movie was at a sad moment and the music should reflect this. The melancholy tune that remained still retained the emotional quality, without the depressing nature of the earlier lyrics that follow.

An early draft

Christmas future is far away

Christmas past is past

Christmas present is here today

Bringing joy that may last

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

May your heart be light

In a year our troubles will be out of sight

From now on

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the yuletide gay

In a year our troubles will be miles away

Here we are as in olden days

Happy golden days of yore

Precious friends who are dear to us

Gather near to us once more

I know that

In a year we all will be together

If the Fates allow

Until then, we'll just have to muddle through somehow

And have ourselves a merry little Christmas now.

Another early version

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

It may be your last

Next year we may all be living in the past

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Make the Yuletide gay.

Next year we may all be many miles away.

No good times like the olden days,

Happy golden days of yore,

Faithful friends who were dear to us

Will be near to us no more.

But at least we all will be together

If the fates allow.

From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.

So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.