Every year when the Christmas songs come on the radio, I'll eventually hear the opening bars of whatever is the latest cover version of Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas, and I will be disappointed. This is the : the lyrics go
^Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
One day soon we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then we'll have to middle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now^
But the cover will inevitably have
^ Here we are as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Gather near to us once more
Through the years we all will be together
If the fates allow^
And then, because the bit about getting through would now make no sense:
^ Hang a shining star upon the highest bough
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now^
Is it just me that thinks the first version is just tons better than the second? The sadness in it, the reference to friends lost or far away, makes it much more poignant than the second version, where all the narrative tension is taken out and it's just this sweet little song about how nice it is to be with people you love. Or am I missing something lovely in the second version?