ledge's seamless seque is true to the subtle melancholy aspects, which originally were upfront, via lyrics: in Meet Me In St. Louis, Judy Garland is singing it to her little sister, after their father tells them he's moving the whole family to New York. This will be their last Christmas with their friends here. But the studio decreed the lyrics too Debbie Downer for Christmas, and/or too damn obvious. We do get "next year troubles will be far awaaay"--maybe we'll have put all this behind us, but a distance is involved, however it goes. The composer talks about it in Fresh Air's archive.
― dow, Monday, 17 December 2012 15:11 (eleven years ago) link