Some of our most popular Christmas songs were actually written for the movies. Today, I'm exploring the history of four of these songs and the films that introduced them to us.
I am in a nursing home now with a pacemaker. I sit and look out the window and relive Christmas memories growing up and when my Wife was alive. She would decorate the whole house inside and we would go her family in SE Ohio Christmas day. I am 72 and wish I could relive old memories.
Lyle Johnson Dearest Lyle, I hope you enjoy the Merriest of Christmases and have a Happy & Healthy New Year. I’m sorry about your wife and l know how much you must miss her. (I was widowed at 54.) But, I’m sure she would want you to be as cheerful as possible and remember the wonderful times you had together. Bless You. ♥️
My Dear Lyle, by keeping your wife's memories, you are reliving your time with her. I agree that she would want you to be happy ... especially at this time of year. You'll be together soon enough. So take the time you have and share the joy she gave you with others. This above all else, will make your wife happy. My wish this season is for many blessings for you and yours.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you, Lyle. Yes, it's beautiful to look back and remember those good 'ol days. No modern devices. Children out in thecstreet playing, delicious smells from the kitchen and family all together talking. I can feel it now if I close my eyes.
Merry Christmas!! What a blessing to have such lovely memories to look back on. Your memories help you relive them and even better you made a good life to look back on. I see so many people now days who will never have that gift. I am sorry for your loss. May God keep you close this holiday season.
Mr Johnson...if you havent departed yet, I have a strong belief that you will see your Wife again in Heaven. It will be Christmas day every single day for an eternity and then some. Blessings to you...
When I was a kid I remember my grandpa breaking out his White Christmas album and playing it on his HUGE stand alone record player in his den. He would sit on his hide a bed and sing just like ol' Bing....sure miss those moments AND him!!
I hate that a lot of people say Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas was introduced by Frank Sinatra. I will always associate it with this movie and with Judy Garland. And hers is the best version by far.
I so agree. Besides I am not a Sinatra fan and never have been. Always found his voice dull and overrated. Judy had the best vocals and range for this song, she had an incredible voice. I, too, associate her with this song because of Meet Me In ST Louis.
larry potter I agree Sinatra is overrated. He was ok when he was a crooner at the very start of his career, but as he got older he lost his talent. But Judy, no matter what she was going through, still had a special something in her voice.
@@thomasbradley4505 You are so right. Thomas. I won't go into what made Sinatra so famous, that's more controversial, but Judy was the real deal. She definitely had a certain quality in her voice through out her whole life..
@@thomasbradley4505 Yeah, he had a lovely voice at first and later sounded common. My dad always said he ruined his voice smoking. What a criminal loss. He was genuinely gifted, but for such a short time. Judy, even with all that went on in her life, always sounded amazing.
So true. They have to put their own spin on the Christmas song and they murder the song. Very few will sing the Christmas song, what ever it may be, without murdering the song.
Agreed. I went out of my way to find the movie version after I heard there was a different line there. It speaks to me, honestly. I also have a copy with Frank Sinatra singing the line from the movie, not the newer one. I dunno if that was an older recording? iTunes says it's from 2004 but seeing as how he'd been dead for 6 years that's no help. But it sounds like it might have been recorded around 1950, considering you can use the gradual degradation of his voice to measure time...
Bee Whistler That's true. I will go so far as to commit heresy; I don't like his version of "New York, New York!" It's Liza's song, and she does it better!
1. "White Christmas" ("Holiday Inn," then the post-World-War-II movie of the same name.) 2. "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas" ("Meet Me In St. Louis") 3. "Baby, It's Cold Outside" ("Neptune's Daughter" The song does have a creepy vibe.) 4. "Silver Bells" ("The Lemon Drop Kid" Never heard of the movie. TCM time!)
I love Christmas music too. Even though I'm now 72-years old, listening to my favorite yule tide classics still makes me feel young again. My favorite all-time tune is Bing Crosby's "White Christmas." It just doesn't get any better. My second is Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song," written by the great Mel Torme. He had only written the lead line, "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire," and decided to use it in his one and only original Christmas recording. He wrote the entire song in just 45-minutes, and recorded it in LA during a heatwave in the middle of July. P.S. On the subject of holiday movies, I have three personal suggestions. First, the single greatest Christmas movie of all, "Scrooge," starring the greatest Scrooge of them all, Alistair Sim. Many fine actors have done the part, but all fail in comparison. Second, "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," by the great Jim Carrey. No other actor alive could have done this extremely difficult role like this wonderfully talent man. And third, a real "gem" that has become an annual family favorite, "Silent Night," starring Linda Hamilton ("Terminator") as a German house frau during World War II. It is based on a true story, and one that will truly warm your heart, epitomizing the best of drama and the holiday spirit, in a truly great little film. Catch it.
My father first heard White Christmas, on a portable record player, when he and other U.S. Marines were sitting on a log in a South Pacific war zone, in the summer of 1943.
I am so gad you included Silver Bells. It was my favourite Christmas song as a child and the Lemon Drop Kid is one of my favourite movies to watch at Christmas!!!
I know the version you're talking about, and I agree, no version of that particular song ever need be recorded. It would be impossible to do it any better.
@@catbutte4770 you understand that blackface though wrong was popular at the time and not ment to be racist. A black woman sings in it for crying out loud
I didn't see Holiday Inn until last year but I've made up for lost time. Over the years, going back to the early 1960s, I saw portions of it but never found the right moment to see it from start to finish.
Isn't it ironic that the number one song in America, which was released in 1942 (one year after the United States enters WWII) is a Christmas song, written by a Jew who is named "Berlin"...which just happens to be the name of the capital city of Germany...the Nazi center of the universe!
@@rolandomontenegro4130 If you mean that they're associating Bill Murray with Christmas movies, that does make sense, but I have to say that I've felt the same way about Groundhog Day. I think the snow is a large part of it, but also the kind of message it has. Seems like a lot of Christmas stories involve the cosmos effing with some guy's life to teach him a lesson. ;)
One note (no pun intended) concerning "White Christmas." The duet is lovely, but that's not Marjorie Reynolds' voice - she was dubbed by Martha Mears, who also dubbed Rita Hayworth in COVER GIRL and Lucille Ball in DUBARRY WAS A LADY.
"Baby it's cold outside" was co-opted by the "me-too" movement this year as an example of how men take advantage of women. I never knew that in the movie the roles were reversed with the woman singing the lead.
I really enjoy your RU-vid channel. Have you explored the film “The Quiet Man” with John Wayne? It’s a favorite of mine . I would love to know all about it.
I have never heard of "Neptune's Daughter.I thought it was written for : Holiday Inn." WhatRivardo Montalban sang Baby It's Cold Outside,with Esther Williams?.:-):-O:-O These facts about that song are very interesting.:-O:-):-D I love this episode.
Christmas is Christmas and Advent is Advent! We are NOT in the Christmas season yet. That doesn't begin until the evening of 24th December, and goes on until 2nd February (Candle Mass).
Jane Darnell of "Lemon Drop Kid" would go on to be the Bird Woman in Marry Poppins. With "Baby It's Cold Outside", it is interesting to note how the roles are reversed with Red Shelton & Betty Garrett--she wants to seduce him; too many people are focusing in misinterpreted "politically correct" notion of "date rape" that seems to be conveyed in the song. I heard Judy Garland herself insisted the lyrics be changed in the song "Have yourself,,,", to be less dark. I sometimes think "White Christmas" was made to counteract the blackface used as a plot device in "Holiday Inn"; even by 1942 standards, blackface would have been regarded as demeaning so "White Christmas" made as an alternative.
I've never liked the pop version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas." No matter how they rewrite the lyrics, it just was not meant to be a cheery song. "We'll have to muddle through somehow" is so much more resonant for me.
I'm dreaming of a white Christmas Just like the ones I used to know When the children glisten And the tree tops listen....Oh, wait - that's wrong. Then again, it kinda makes sense :)
Not sure it really is, but since we only hear it at Christmas time I included it. Lots of songs (Frosty the Snow Man, Jingle Bells, etc.) aren’t specifically linked to Christmas either.
What in the world does "Baby, It's Cold Outside" have to do with Christmas? It took the place of Frank Loesser's "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China," which the Hays Office thought inappropriate. It doesn't even take place during the Christmas season. In the two scenes the song is sung, there are absolutely no Christmas decorations, or anything to remotely suggest Christmas in any way.
Okay, that story about Silver Bells was my favorite part of the video. Imagine this dude walking in and telling his wife the name of the song, the look on her face... Made me laugh out loud! Also, a lot of people give Baby, It's Cold Outside a lot of grief because it's a dude trying to coerce a woman to stay. Well, I won't say that's not creepy, but I always thought it was clear that she isn't so much being kept against her will as being worn down... not because she's unwilling but because she is willing but doesn't want to seem too easy. She makes her little arguments but at the end of each line she joins in his refrain because deep down she wants to stay. Still not a particularly savory song, though... by far the most troubling line is "I ought to say no, no, no, sir... at least I'm gonna say that I tried." Hello! The dude should hand her that fur coat and call her a cab asap. It's not worth it. There's no interpretation of that likely to end well for him. Above all, it's just such a dated song and I dunno when it became a Christmas song, but I was never terribly fond of it. I don't enjoy watching a couple of horny people playing little games to justify knocking boots.
you really need to have a drink and relax, you are way too uptight! It's a fun and flirty song! I am sure you watched or read 50 Shades of Grey.. this song is nothing!
2_52 It was not just one Christmas Eve it was the Eve befor the infamous BATTLE OF THE BULGE when the German troops overran all the American front up positions. Just compare the famous movie THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE it brought over the durace and gloom of the situation back then.
5:51 BABY IT IS COLD OUTSIDE: I have this one on several records and DVDs but never have thought about it´s " Police Hour " potential to make people leave. Here in Germany as a Christmas Song for those occasions in Churches and in Private it is the orignal Austrian song SILENT NIGHT, HOLY NIGHT and for commen non religious perposes GUTE NACHT FREUNDE ( Good NIGHT FRIENDS...) a song originaly composed by Reinhard May and first presented by INGA&WOLF, a Singer Duo from the Seveniies.. Also Reinhard May did his own version. - all on RU-vid if someone got curious. For Decades GOOD NIGHT FRIENDS became the title of the 11pm radio broadcast of the Bavarian Radio Station before they closed their daily program.
@@AMillionMovies I Must Have Been Thinking of Another Movie or Song, I Could Have Sworn it Was This Movie, I also Thought They Said it was Originally to be a Thanksgiving Song, I Might be Wrong About That Also.
The song was never about rape. The song was meant as a playful way of poking fun as societal conventions. Even though the woman in the song is obviously in control of the situation, she uses every common excuse people used at the time ("There's bound to be talk tomorrow"). She even add the line "At least i'm gonna say that I tried." The point being that she has no intention of leaving, but still wants to ease the guilt that Society has imprinted on her for exercising her right to follow her own desires.
BS on "White Christmas" I have a copy of the sheet music published by Harm's Music Copyright 1935. Only two of the songs in "Holiday Inn" were written specifically for the movie, "I'm Singing Song of Freedom" and "I've Got Plenty to be Thankful For". Bing Crosby first sang "White Christmas" in the 1936 film "Father Brian" later remade as "Going My Way". Get out your Hollowell's Film Goer's Companion, not Wiki or IBDm.
“My Favorite Things” by Julie Andrews in The Sound of Music which did have a Christmas scene maybe should have been included since it was in a film. Also “Somewhere in my Memory” from Home Alone maybe should have been included though not performed on the movie but was played on it along with “Rockin’ around the Christmas Tree.”
I didn’t include “My Favorite Things” because it was actually written for the Broadway musical and not specifically the movie. I’m not sure most people know the score from Home Alone, and Brenda Lee’s song wasn’t written for that movie, so I didn’t include those either.
The Sound of Music doesn't have a Christmas scene; the story is set in summer. "My Favorite Things" is sung in the stage version between Maria and the Mother Superior as a familiar folk song. In the movie, Maria sings it to comfort the children during a thunderstorm.
I was always annoyed by the Militarization of White Christmas, even if it was WW2 (The Just War). The song as shown in Holiday Inn is how the song was intended to be heard, not framed by the ridiculous premise of a beloved Army General and 2 GI buddies that loved their Combat Experience!
World War II dominated the era, some soldiers had not seen their loved ones for 5 years. This song is about loneliness and the desire to see family and friends.
