Song: Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas’ performed by Judy Garland.
Written for the 1944 musical, ‘Meet me in St Louis,’ this song has been recorded a number of times by others including Frank Sinatra, who insisted that some of the lyrics be changed.
It wasn’t the first time for the lyrics to be changed. For filming, the writer was asked to make the song less depressing for a scene that was already filled with tears and melancholy.
This is another Christmas Song filled with sentimentality. The family in the film are preparing to be uprooted and move from St Louis to New York soon after Christmas due to their father’s work. The character played by Judy Garland sings to her younger sister, Tootie, and we witness the importance of home, family and togetherness, the difficulty of letting go, and the hope for better times.
Anyway, enough of all this! There will be time to talk and reflect soon, so let’s listen to the song!
Lyrics: You can find the Lyrics at: https://genius.com/Judy-garland-have-yourself-a-merry-little-christmas-lyrics
Is the song familiar or unfamiliar to you?
What were your immediate thoughts?
How does this song make you feel?
Here are some areas for discussion. There are far too many here for one session, so just take your pick!
- “Once again as in olden days, happy golden days of yore.” We can often the view the past as golden days. How does this help? How does it hinder? What can we learn from the past? How do we view the past? Some people will carry memories and scars from the past. How can we be more sensitive to those who carry difficult memories? How do we cope with change? To quote a Christmas Carol, in what way are “the hopes and dreams of all the years … met in thee tonight?” How can we ensure the birth of Christ is relevant today and not just a story from the past?
- “Next year all our troubles will be out of sight.” Ah, here’s that ever returning theme of Christmas songs and New Year’s hopes and resolutions, as we anticipate a better year, a brighter future. Have you started thinking about New Year’s Resolutions yet? In what way do you want next year to be different? How can we meet people in their troubles? What troubles do we experience in our own community? In what ways is Christ the Prince of Peace? (Isaiah 9:6)
- “We’ll have to muddle through somehow.” For many of us, much of the time, we seem to muddle through life, making the most of what we have, making the best of what is, maybe making mistakes, sometimes meeting with success. How does this muddling through life compare to the designs of God, the decisive action delivered in Jesus? (John 3:16; Hebrews 1:1-4)
- “Faithful friends who are dear to us will be near to us once more.” The song is from the story of a comfortable, upper-middle class family preparing to be uprooted for economic reasons, leaving behind friendships, relationships, love and everything else. In the Christmas story from the Bible, we also see a family on the move, first to Bethlehem and then to Egypt as refugees. How does the experience of the Holy Family inform our response to those who are seeking asylum and refuge from war, persecution or the effects of climate change? Those whose lives are displaced through external circumstances? (Matthew 2:13-18)
- “Someday soon we all will be together.” Christmas songs and sentiments are often focussed on family and friends, being together, and gathered together. In what ways are we divided from others? Distance, disagreement, difference? What divisions are there in our community, our country, our world? What does the Bible say?
- “Let your heart be light.” In the movie, after the song, Tootie (the younger sister, to whom the song is sung) runs into the garden and destroys all the snow people she has made and which she can’t take with her. So much of what we have is passing, short lived. How do we relate to all that is transitory? What do we cling to? What does it means to be citizens of Heaven? What does it mean to travel light? What burdens do we carry? What distracts us from Christ? (Philippians 3:2)
- “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” How can we sensitively speak the message of Christmas and Christ to others in a sensitive, understanding and compassionate way, without being glib or patronising? What comfort does Christmas bring? In what way does the birth of Christ bring peace as promised?
At the end, identify what we have gained or learned, and what has changed for us Is there anything we can act upon?
After the discussion, a particular reading from the Bible may have come to mind, which can be read, and the session completed with a time of prayer in whatever way suits the group.
You may want to play the song again as part of gathering everything together
In Session 4: ‘Stay Another Day’ by East 17
South Cardiff Ministry Area 