There's one Christmas song Brett Young loves so much that he says it actually creeps into most of his music: "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," which was originally introduced by Judy Garland in the 1944 film Meet Me in St. Louis.
"Before you dig too deep about the lyrics, it's the ballad that I try to put out with every single song I ever put out," he reveals. "So that is obviously what I gravitate towards."
"But there's something about the lyric matched with the music that makes — it's even in the lyric, 'Let your heart be light.' It just literally makes me feel that way," he says.
Most of all for Brett, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" evokes what he loves most about the holiday.
"For me, Christmas is always about being with family," he reflects. "And whether it's said that specifically or not in the song, everything about the lyric makes me feel like I'm sitting in the living room with my family. And that is the holidays for me."
The Californian recorded his version of the song for 2021's Brett Young & Friends Sing the Christmas Classics. It's a duet with Australian pop star Sam Fischer, though Brett originally intended to record it with his CMT Crossroads partners Boyz II Men.