This Is This

The 1944 musical in Meet Me in St. Louis was the first audition of Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas, sung by Judy Garland, but it was made famous by Frank Sinatra in the 1950s.

Frank Si-fucking-natra. Don’t get me started. A quick search of this site tells me I have never spoken of this, but I hate Frank Sinatra. I almost can’t believe I’ve never posted about it before, but that’s probably because I can’t stand him.

Can no one else hear how flat he sounds? And I don’t just mean blue notes, or bending up to lazily hit the note in lazy, dulcet jazz stylings. He is just flat. The fact that he’s so highly rated baffles me but, yes, I do not like Frank Sinatra. I like all that other stuff, the rat-pack thing, the swing era material before and the cheesy Vegas ballads after, but - well - I’ve said my piece. He made me swear on Christmas day as well, and you didn’t need to hear that. I’m sorry. I sometimes say things.

Anyway, Sinatra was recording an album called A Jolly Christmas and he wanted the lyrics changed. So instead of the darker original line “Until then, we’ll have to muddle through somehow“, he sang the line: “Hang a shining star upon the highest bow“.

This totally changed the song’s focus to a celebration of present happiness, rather than anticipation of a better future. But it’s the end of the year, it’s the days getting longer and the hope of new things that makes today what it is as much as it is a time to give thanks.

My man James Taylor wanted to stay faithful to the tone. He says: “I always sort of thought of this song with these lyrics from the movie. And it resonates more with me this way, with the sort of sadder, more melancholy lyrics. I like it better.”

He sings of ”bringing joy that may last“.

“May.”

Sigh.

Christmas is bittersweet. It’s marzipan, it’s the absent friend among company, it’s - ”it’s not much but I thought of you.”

Although it’s been said many times many ways - Merry Christmas to you.

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.

Listen: Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas

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I don’t often hand it to the French, language-wise, but they have one or two bon mots every now and then.
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