Well, another great Hollywood personage has left the stage--though I'd guess most Americans wouldn't recognize him by name or face, but they certainly know his work: The great Hollywood and Broadway composer Hugh Martin died this week, aged 96. He is best known for having written all the original songs for the classic MGM musical, Meet Me In St. Louis, including "The Trolley Song," "The Boy Next Door," and, perhaps most famously, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which is often named as one of the top favorite Christmas songs of all time (and for which he also wrote the lyrics, though his writing partner, Ralph Blane is often incorrectly credited).
He was also a noted voice teacher and coach, arranger and playwright. By all accounts a very nice man, with a huge circle of friends, both famous and non-famous. He remained active, positive and "young-thinking" to the end.
Hugh Martin was really the last living "lead player" of MGM's famed "Freed Unit," which was responsible for creating most of the great MGM musicals of the 1940's and 50's (An American In Paris, Singin' in the Rain, Gigi, et. al.). Just this past year, he released his long-awaited autobiography, which is wonderfully candid and a most entertaining insider look at that lost "golden era" of film musicals, and I recommend it very highly. In it, he recounts the tale of how the original lyrics to "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" went like this:
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
It may be your last,
Next year we will all be living in the past" (!)
Despite the entreaties of all concerned, he stubbornly refused to make the lyrics to the song a bit more "upbeat". He recounts that Judy Garland said to him,"I can't sing that to Margaret O'Brien! The audience will just hate me!" Eventually, he saw the light and changed the lyrics to what we know today:
"Have yourself a merry little Christmas,
Let your heart be light,
Next year all our troubles will be out of sight."
Martin's "The Trolley Song" became a #1 hit in 1944, and went on to win the Oscar for "Best Song" that year. He lived, as they say, "a full life," and hopefully, he knew how much his talents were appreciated. His book, The Boy Next Door, is available on Amazon (see link below).
(The song begins at 1:40 in this clip):
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