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Hugh Martin, the composer who wrote “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” and “The Trolley Song,” died on March 11 at his home in California. He was 96. In 2007, EW writer Chris Willman interviewed Martin for a story on “Merry Little Christmas.” “The song’s fascinatingly tangled history has left it with several very different sets of lyrics, from the near-suicidal to the downright ebullient,” Willman wrote. Here’s an excerpt from the story:
In 1943, Martin was hired to pen the songs for the movie musical Meet Me in St. Louis, which would pair Judy Garland with her future husband, director Vincente Minnelli. For the now-famous scene in which Garland and her little sister, a 7-year-old Margaret O’Brien, are despondent over the prospect of moving away from their cherished home, he wrote an initial set of lyrics that were almost comically depressing. READ FULL STORY »
