who sings have yourself a merry little christmas
Judy Garland
title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas text: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", a song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane, was introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 MGM musical "Meet Me in St. Louis". Frank Sinatra later recorded a version with modified lyrics. In 2007, ASCAP ranked it the third most performed Christmas song during the preceding five years that had been written by ASCAP members. In 2004 it finished at No. 76 in AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs rankings of the top tunes in American cinema. The song was written while Martin was vacationing in a flat in title: Christmas music text: his orchestra recorded their version in 1935, followed later by a range of artists including: Frank Sinatra, The Supremes, The Jackson 5, The Beach Boys, and Glenn Campbell. Bruce Springsteen add a rock rendition in 1975. Long-time Christmas classics still dominate the holiday charts — such as "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!," "Winter Wonderland," "Sleigh Ride" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" — new songs to enter the top tier of the season's canon include "Wonderful Christmastime" by Paul McCartney, "All I Want for Christmas Is You" by Mariah Carey and Walter Afanasieff, and "Last title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas text: In a scene set on Christmas Eve, Judy Garland's character, Esther, sings the song to cheer up her despondent five-year-old sister, Tootie, played by Margaret O'Brien. Some of the original lyrics that were penned by Martin were rejected before filming began. When presented with the original draft lyric, Garland, her co-star Tom Drake and director Vincente Minnelli criticized the song as depressing, and asked Martin to change the lyrics. Though he initially resisted, Martin made several changes to make the song more upbeat. For example, the lines "It may be your last / Next year we may all be living title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas text: etc., mainly because this bizarre situation was caused by my naive and atrocious lack of business acumen." Judy Garland's 1944 version of the song reached No. 27 on the "Billboard" charts. The lyrics Garland sang in "Meet Me in St. Louis" have been recorded with only slight variations by a number of artists, including Sinatra (in 1950 and 1963 single recordings), Bing Crosby (in "I Wish You a Merry Christmas"), Doris Day (in "The Doris Day Christmas Album"), Ella Fitzgerald (in "Ella Wishes You a Swinging Christmas"), The Pretenders (in the first "A Very Special Christmas" compilation), James Taylor (in title: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas text: line was "Hang a shining star upon the highest bough." Martin made several other alterations, changing the song's focus to a celebration of present happiness, rather than anticipation of a better future. On "The Judy Garland Show Christmas Special", Garland sings the song to her children Joey and Lorna Luft with Sinatra's alternate lyrics. In 2001, Martin, occasionally active as a pianist with religious ministries since the 1980s, wrote an entirely new set of lyrics to the song with John Fricke, "Have Yourself a Blessed Little Christmas," a religious version of the secular Christmas standard. The song was recorded by