have yourself a merry little christmas

dontcry I had myself one! Dec 26, 2009

reesetee Precisely. :-) Dec 22, 2009

ruzuzu Me too, reesetee. I think it's the clarinet. Dec 22, 2009

reesetee Yes, that's it, I think. And I like them both. :-) Dec 22, 2009

chained_bear I think of it as having the same emotional tone as "I'll Be Home for Christmas," which is to say, sad and regretful. Dec 22, 2009

PossibleUnderscore Haha! Very sweet!

Reading this thread, I was surprised to see how this song was interpreted. I have never thought of it as dark or patronising before. It just seems...well...a song of hope?: looking to the future, in a way.

According to this source: There is a distinction between a Christmas carol and a Christmas song. A Christmas Carol has a fairly rapid, regular beat, which would, therefore, exclude a meandering, crooning song such as “White Christmas”. Dec 21, 2009

ruzuzu Have a Habanera Christmas,
Like they do in old Seville.
If the toreador doesn't get gored,
Perhaps poor Carmen will.... Dec 21, 2009

Jubjub I would guess, according to its etymology, that a Christmas carol is one that sung in a chorus, going door-to-door. A Christmas song is just a more general category? So "Grandma got run over by a Reindeer" is a Christmas song, but not one you'd really sing in a group at someone's doorstep. Dec 21, 2009

milosrdenstvi For some reason I always thought a Carol was a bit like a Carmen. Dec 21, 2009

reesetee I was taught that a carol was a religious song--not necessarily related to a church service or practice (like hymns), but containing religious content. Christ vs. Santa Claus, in a way. :-)

Ptero: You're right. *sniff* Dec 21, 2009

pterodactyl I just found a video clip of the original "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", and man, it's a tearjerker.

I can't shed any light on the carol/song distinction -- can anyone else enlighten us? Dec 21, 2009

dontcry Very interesting, ptero! Did not know that. I like the, gulp, Sinatra version best!

I would sat that's a song rather than a carol -- but I'm not sure why. Dec 21, 2009

uselessness I actually like the song quite a lot. The lyrics and tune are beautiful. It's just that one line that always sort of rubbed me the wrong way. Anyway, the real question here, is what is the difference between a Christmas carol and a Christmas song? Dec 21, 2009

reesetee I don't find it patronizing either--actually, I never considered that until now, uselessness. But it is true, as ptero points out, that the original words were quite dark. Either way, it's one of my favorite Christmas tunes. :-) Dec 21, 2009

pterodactyl It's worth mentioning that the original song, as it appeared in "Meet Me In St. Louis", was a wistful, melancholy piece. The lyrics we sing today are rather cheerier than the lyrics that Judy Garland sang (as you can hear for yourself). I suspect that the reason why the phrase "merry little Christmas" sounds so dismissive is that it's a remnant of the original cynical lyrics.

This article is fascinating, and definitely worth a read.

Dec 21, 2009

gangerh Have it your way. Merry Christmas. Little? Yes, I can allow your feelings here, 'ness. Not a carol though, is it? Dec 21, 2009

dontcry I don't find this line patronizing at all. I much prefer a 'merry little Christmas' to, well, almost any other kind. Dec 21, 2009

ruzuzu What?!? *Goes to check sionnach's profile for clues* Dec 20, 2009

Jubjub If you play it backwards, you can hear "santa is dead" over and over again. Dec 20, 2009

uselessness A patronizing line in an otherwise very nice Christmas carol. It also happens to be the song's (patronizing) title. Well isn't that just precious. Dec 20, 2009