I’ve written about one of my favorite modern American Christmas
songs before. It came along at a time when there were powerful
forces working on our national sensibilities, and I believe it captured
everything in one place—melody, lyrics, even Judy Garland, of whom I’m not a
fan.
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” was the lynchpin
of the 1944 Vincent Minelli film Meet Me
in Saint Louis. It speaks of carrying on in the face of unsettling times,
and hoping for the restoration of family and loving friends in the future, even
if the present is more than a little frightening.
It was a perfect song for Americans who’d been led to
believe that, following the Normandy invasion in June of that year, the world
war should have been over by Christmas. Not only had that not happened, but the
German
Ardennes offensive—a total surprise to the Allies—engendered confusion and
fear; fear as frozen and bitter as the weather around Bastogne.
We live in unsettled times now, more than 70 years later;
recent events have proven that we don’t need to cross an ocean to face terror. So
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” is just as timely as it was in the
darkest nights of our fight against Nazi totalitarianism. Wherever you are,
wherever your loved ones are, take a moment to step away from the current
struggle that has enveloped us, and let your hearts be light.
(This version by Linda Ronstadt.)
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