Judy Garland-have yourself a merry little christmas

[Indiana_Dem]

Run time: 03:56 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOLadfOlVwU   Posted on YouTube: April 17, 2015 By YouTube Member: YouTube Help Views on YouTube: 6880753   Posted on DU: December 03, 2006 By DU Member: Indiana_Dem Views on DU: 1905

 
Although this is not purely a political video, I felt it had some relevance as it made me sad to think of the troops fighting in this war during this holiday time.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

1. Kick!

:cry:

[Hissyspit]

2. If you see the song performed in "Meet Me In St. Louis," you realize that

it really was meant to be seen as melancholy and not purely celebratory.

From Wikipedia: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" is a Christmas song written by Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane and made famous by Judy Garland in the 1944 film "Meet Me in St. Louis". The movie chronicles the change in seasons and times of St. Louis including the Christmas season. In the famous scene, Garland sings the tearful tune to child star Margaret O'Brien. The melancholy tune and lyrics were originally even more somber but were adapted by the song writers to the current version at Garland's request.

Note the lyrics: "NEXT YEAR,
All our troubles will be out of sight"

Check out the early draft:

"No good times like the olden days,
Happy golden days of yore,
Faithful friends who were dear to us
Will be near to us no more.
But at least we all will be together
If the Lord allows.
From now on we'll have to muddle through somehow.
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now."

Judy Garland felt some of the lyrics were too negative for a Christmas song and requested a rewrite but Hugh Martin initially refused and withdrew the song. Martin credits Meet Me in St. Louis actor Tom Drake for persuading him that Garland was right and it was a great song but needed another draft.

[Catchawave]

10. I enjoyed this tidbit, thanks

Someone should record it with the original lyrics, very touching.

[SEABEE Chief]

3. kick-kick !

Thank you.

[TomInTib]

4. Wonderful!!

One to keep.

on edit:

"keep" is quite a weird word, isn't it?

[doublethink]

5. 5th vote, gotta share this .....

Peace and thanks for posting it. :hug:

[dddem]

6. thank you for sharing.

Judy Garland is one of my favorite performers, and this is one of my favorite Christmas songs, and I think the video fits the lyrics perfectly.
Peace.

[Indiana_Dem]

7. Thank you!

Wow! I didn't think it would receive much attention. It just moved me so I posted it! Thank you very much! :)

[tomreedtoon]

8. A reminder of what American soldiers used to be.

Maybe I'm being foolish, but I remember films and videos and things like this. They showed American soldiers, stuck in a far-away country, trying to keep up their connections to home and their old civilian lives.

I'm sure that people who did serve in Nam, and in other conflicts, will tell me that was a lie for the folks on the home front. It was intended to make all of us feel good about our soldiers still being human, and that their wars were as brutal on the human soul as anything we're doing now.

Well, maybe so. But at least we pretended that war wasn't dehumanizing our soldiers. It was an ideal, a goal to keep in mind. We don't have that ideal any more. Not only does our government and our military admit that our soldiers are doing brutal things, they like it that way. They think it makes their fighting men more "effective" to have them do these things. They don't care what happens when Johnny comes marching home, not even if he happens to have turned into John Rambo.

Thanks for that video, Indiana_Dem. I'll always try to remember my father's military service that way. And maybe someday, America's armed forces might come back to that principle of warfare. Did I say I still believe in Santa Claus and Democratic victories?

[twenty4blackbirds]

9. Love Judy.

[oxymoron]

11. Me too - this is probably my favorite performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nY6fia3bKtA