Here’s another annual feature on this site, because it’s as perfect a rendition of a song as I can remember. No cover has ever come close–well, maybe Bing Crosby, but that’s about it. Certainly not the more famous Frank Sinatra version in which he foisted that awful “Hang a shining star on the highest bough” lyric on the world, because he wanted it to be more cheerful.
This is not a song about cheerfulness in general. It is a song about finding what cheer you can, what joy you can, however momentary, in the midst of whatever else is going on in your life. It’s about hoping that someday soon we all can be together, but also about muddling through as best we can until that day comes, if it ever does.
Strong opinions, I know, but I cannot abide “Hang a shining star upon the highest bough”. It’s a totally meaningless lyric, crafted for scansion and rhyme and that’s it. And I cannot abide the erasure of Judy Garland that happens every time any version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” other than her original, from Meet Me In St. Louis, plays on the radio.
