Ralph Blaine

Well, it began with the melody.

I found a little magical-like tune that I liked but couldn't make work.

So I played with it for two or three days and then I threw it in the wastebasket and forgot about it.

But Ralph, bless his heart, tell her how you reacted.

And then we wrote a lyric which nobody liked, especially Judy, because it was extremely sad and tragic.

Can you sing it the way it was?

And we thought that was just dandy because it was a sad scene.

But they said, no, no, it's a sad scene, but we want a sort of an upbeat song which will make it even sadder if she's smiling through her tears.

So then we wrote the one that you know in the movie.

It was because of the title of his album, which was A Jolly Christmas.

He wanted us to jolly it up a bit.

Well, I just received a little demo from my publisher with about 11 new versions of Have Yourself.

And I tell you, it really had an emotional impact on me.

It made me feel so connected.

With a generation that's not my generation, I really was moved to tears by it.

Well, my all-time favorite versions are from the olden days.

It was Judy Garland, of course, always tops with me, and Mel Torme, who wrote a beautiful new verse for it, which is really out of this world.

The strangest version was

by a group called Twisted Sister.

Have you ever heard of them?