It's one of the few secular Christmas songs that allows a little room for not being totally in a party mood:

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

Through the years, we all will be together
If the fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

-- Hugh Martin and Ralph Blane

When searching for lyrics to this song a lot of the versions I found didn't have the "muddle through" - according to this NPR account, Frank Sinatra had the lyrics made more upbeat when he performed the song in the '50s.

In the interview linked above, James Taylor recounts that while he recorded the song earlier in the year, with the original lyrics, it struck a chord after 9/11.

It makes sense, because this song was written - for the movie Meet Me in St. Louis - in 1944. In the midst of wartime escapism, the songwriters allow (in a subtle way) that we might be missing a friend or lover. One who of course might never be there again.

(Today it seems that sadness in songs has to be hammered into our heads, but sometimes I think the sadness of some of the World War II tunes cuts much closer to the bone: "I'll be Seeing You" for example. In times like those and these, fake grunge depression doesn't quite cut it.)

This Christmas song has often felt right for me since I've grown up. My childhood was very happy and Christmas was a warm, family time - just the three of us, simple but nice.

But in later years it often seemed that I was far away from someone I loved - or thought I loved. Or I was trying to figure out just what my life was actually about.

This year I am lucky in many ways. I am with someone I love, I have a job and a house and two cats. These things can't be forgotten. But there are still echoes of pain from the past in addition to our recent loss of the adoption referral - a child that we thought might be with us for Christmas next year. And I miss my mom, who is healthy but visiting her sister in Florida, and my father, who won't ever see our child - whoever he or she is. And there are a lot of friends that are far away, or who seem to not be friends any more.

Mostly I think because we were looking towards Christmas next year as a bigger family, we decided not to have a big tree this year. We did do Chanukah, but after learning about the adoption thing I decided not to put up any lights or anything for Christmas.

Too all who are happy this year, have a wonderful Christmas (or whatever you might be celebrating, winter solstice, etc. - I'm way too late for Chanukah greetings now!). And to all of you who must "muddle through", may the fates allow for next year to be better.