This article was originally published on Dec. 22, 2006.
There are two classic Christmas anthems locked in a struggle for the nation’s soul.
2 on ASCAP’s annual list of the most performed holiday songs.
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There’s even a recent “sacred” rewrite, “Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas.”
Which one you prefer may be the truest Rorschach test of your yuletide temperament.
He’s curious to know who’s done “Merry Little Christmas” well this year.
“Twisted Sisters, is that the group’s name?
That’s a hoot!”
Faithful friends who were dear to us/Will be near to us no more."
As Martin tells it, he initially balked at changing the words.
“They said, ‘It’s so dreadfully sad.’
I said, ‘I thought the girls were supposed to be sad in that scene.’
They said, ‘Well, notthatsad.’
And she was quite right, but it took me a long time to get over my pride.
Finally, Tom Drake [the young male lead], who was a friend, convinced me.
He said, ‘You stupid son of a b—-!
Martin finally gave in, coming up with a new, somewhat less downbeat lyric.
But to indulge in that and just say ‘Everything was better then’forget it!
You’ve always gotta have hope.”
NotesLinda Ronstadt, “There’s so much inherent trouperism in [Garland’s] version.
“He said, ‘The name of my album isA Jolly Christmas.
Do you think you could jolly up that line for me?'”
It’s probably more off-balance than that.
Even Garland herself eventually did.
“But I still kind of like ‘muddle through somehow,’ myself,” Martin admits.
“It’s just so kind of…down-to-earth.”
Of course, the “happy” lyrics can still pack an emotional wallop.
“I was in a particularly melancholy mood, so I don’t think ours is a cheerful version.
Singing it upset me; I was on the verge of tears.
Recently, more and more singers have been opting for the darker words.
James Taylor, for one, was inspired to go back to the song’s bittersweet roots after 9/11.
In times of strife, “we ‘muddle through,’ as the lyric says.
As thebestlyric says.”
Not everyone feels that way, though.
In her recording, she neatly solves the problem by singing both versions of the key line.
And that manic-depressive compromise between the muddled and the magisterial might just capture Christmas best of all.
by EMI Feist Catalog Inc. (ASCAP) Used by permission.
