I have a co-worker that won't shut the fuck up about this.
"How come the radio will play rap music about bitches and hoes but not Baby It's Cold Outside?"
Bitch what station plays gangster rap AND Christmas music?
To be fair, 'Baby It's Cold Outside' is a product of it's time, and certain things about the lyrics don't translate well to modern listeners. There's really no coercion or persuasion going on. The girl *wants* to stay, she just knows she *shouldn't*, because of what society would think of her if she does.
^This.
,
I love this Christmas song and I never took it weirdly until other people tried to explain this pushy nonsense to me. Colby Callait and Gavin Degraw do a great job of portraying the exact attitude of the girl's viewpoint in this song with their version:
,
https://youtu.be/BFpZcHkE_DM?t=135
,
I set the marker to the correct point in the song. He tells her fine, whatever, leave and she gets super disappointed, then he says nah get back here and she gets happy again. It's cute.
No. She asks "say, what's in this drink?" As a way of implying something in the drink is going to her head as an excuse for her considering staying.
'
Every single line she says just about is a list of excuses about why she SHOULDN'T stay, all of which are half-hearted at best (as evidenced by the fact that it being CHILLY outside is enough to convince her to stay). She immediately sweeps aside all her reasons because she doesn't actually WANT to leave.
All the female lines:
"I really can't stay.
I've got to go away.
This evening has been
So very nice.
'
My mother will start to worry.
My father will be pacing the floor.
So really, I'd better scurry.
But maybe just a half a drink more?
'
The neighbours might think...
Say - what's in this drink?
I wish I knew how
To break this spell
'
I ought to say "no, no, no, Sir"
At least I'm gonna say that I tried
I really can't stay...
But, baby, it's cold outside
'
i simply must go
The answer is "no"
Your welcome has been
So nice and warm
'
My sister will be suspicious
My brother will be there at the door
My maiden-aunt's mind is vicious
But, maybe just a cigarette more...?
'
Ive got to get home
Say, Lend me your coat?
This evening's been grand
But don't you see?
'
There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied
I really can't stay
Oh, but baby it's cold outside
Her entire position in the song can be summed up in the last few lines:
"There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied...
I really can't stay
But, baby, it's cold outside."
'
She's torn between WANTING to stay, and the impropriety of it all, because word will spread and scandal will follow. But it's been such a lovely evening. And, it IS dreadfully cold. Who could fault her for staying just a bit longer when it's so cold out?
'
The guy's side of things is simply not wanting her to leave and trying to convince her to stay by offering her compliments and cigarettes and saying "it's far too cold for you to go, anyway."
'
That's it. That's all there is to it. There's no drugging, no rape. People took this song, written in an era before a lot of them were born, and tried to twist it into something about a guy being so into a woman he drugs her and tries to rape her. Because apparently that's the thing people these days think you do when it's snowing outside.
I don't disagree on any particular point, but the lyrics and general tone have not aged well.
If you really understand the subtlety (which was probably much easier when the song was written and the context was understood), then it's not that bad. But if you only catch snippets (as most people do), in modern context, it sounds super rapey.
I could understand hearing one line off the cuff and being like "wait a sec," here. But what you do then is you go look up the entire song and be like "oh, okay, I see what's going on." You don't start a crusade founded in ignorance.
'
Going to go on a tangent here, feel free to hop off at any point.
'
When I first heard "Kristy are you doing okay," I didn't know the name of the song, but I liked the tune. Since it mostly played randomly when I was at work I couldn't hear it super well and didn't have the attention to pay to it, and so I'd just hum along with it sometimes.
'
And then one day I heard the line "though the marks on your dress had been neatly repressed, I knew that something was wrong."
'
That sounded rather ominous, so I looked it up, and learned the song was actually about child abuse.
I had a similar experience with "A Lifetime" by Better than Ezra, where one of the only lines I'd heard for a very long time was "and I know it wasn't right, but it felt so good."
'
So for quite awhile I thought this song was about some teenage sexcapade or romance or something. It seemed a touch out of place, but rather than turn it into a drama I went and looked up the lyrics and learned it has nothing to do with sex-- it's a two true stories woven into one about a guy whose friend dies on her way to graduation, and so he steals the urn of her ashes from the funeral and scatters her at the beach because he "knew she'd want it that way."
'
It only takes half a moment usually to find the motivation behind a lot of lyrics, and it's much better than going off half-cocked and trying to ruin the song for everybody
Meanwhile I've also seen people who HAVE looked up the song, decided they needed to be offended about something today (so why not this), and proceed to take every lyric of the song and dissect it into something about kidnapping and rape. They write essays on it and post it. And people agree with them and try to get the song banned.
'
"What's this?? She *thought* about saying no? And he still ASKED if it would be okay to move closer?? That creep! That pervert! Firs she asks him what kind of drink he made her and now this?? How dare he pressure her into his twisted sexual shenanigans! Dishonour on your whole family! Dishonour on you! Dishonour on your cow!"
'
And yet "every breath you take" was widely considered a love song
'
As a side note I'm not even a big fan of 90% of the versions of the song. Literally the only version I've ever heard that I liked was the Glee version. And I don't even like Glee.
And I think the fact that we have such a hard time discerning if she’s being drugged, manipulated, pressured, etc. is what makes the song creepy. Probably was cute back in the day though.
And that was my original point. The societal differences are what creates the confusion. Once you understand the subtext and nuance of the song (which is why I point it out every chance I get :p), it is back to the playful, fun song it was meant to be.
Like I said: if you only read/hear one sentence of the song and decide to go on a rampage without doing any further research, you're pretty much being a lunatic. If you read all the song then it becomes very easy to discern there isn't anything untoward going on. People still say variants of "I don't know WHAT was in that that made me act that way" to this day as a way to explain their questionable actions.
I was in 6th grade and we sang this song in our winter play.
I swear if one more person pulls a shit out of their ass opinion about something as innocent as this one more time I swear I am going on a killing spree.
Next thing you know we can't have Santa because he is a big fat guy who sneaks into people's houses while people sleep.
They will say why is he a WHITE fat GUY why not a Buff BLACK WOMAN who kncoks on the front door during day time and hands over money so SHE doesn't use elves for free labor? It isn't Santa's workshop it is Santa's sweatshop!
(-.-)
&
What I am referring to is story santa. The one in the Christmas poem. Mall santa be what ever makes the best santa.
I literally am so sick of people trying to turn that song into something it's not
'
As a side note: someone I knows school thought it would be appropriate to have 6 year olds sing Eleanor Rigby because Christmas music was offensive
"How come the radio will play rap music about bitches and hoes but not Baby It's Cold Outside?"
Bitch what station plays gangster rap AND Christmas music?
,
I love this Christmas song and I never took it weirdly until other people tried to explain this pushy nonsense to me. Colby Callait and Gavin Degraw do a great job of portraying the exact attitude of the girl's viewpoint in this song with their version:
,
https://youtu.be/BFpZcHkE_DM?t=135
,
I set the marker to the correct point in the song. He tells her fine, whatever, leave and she gets super disappointed, then he says nah get back here and she gets happy again. It's cute.
'
Every single line she says just about is a list of excuses about why she SHOULDN'T stay, all of which are half-hearted at best (as evidenced by the fact that it being CHILLY outside is enough to convince her to stay). She immediately sweeps aside all her reasons because she doesn't actually WANT to leave.
"I really can't stay.
I've got to go away.
This evening has been
So very nice.
'
My mother will start to worry.
My father will be pacing the floor.
So really, I'd better scurry.
But maybe just a half a drink more?
'
The neighbours might think...
Say - what's in this drink?
I wish I knew how
To break this spell
'
I ought to say "no, no, no, Sir"
At least I'm gonna say that I tried
I really can't stay...
But, baby, it's cold outside
'
i simply must go
The answer is "no"
Your welcome has been
So nice and warm
'
My sister will be suspicious
My brother will be there at the door
My maiden-aunt's mind is vicious
But, maybe just a cigarette more...?
'
Ive got to get home
Say, Lend me your coat?
This evening's been grand
But don't you see?
'
There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied
I really can't stay
Oh, but baby it's cold outside
"There's bound to be talk tomorrow
At least there will be plenty implied...
I really can't stay
But, baby, it's cold outside."
'
She's torn between WANTING to stay, and the impropriety of it all, because word will spread and scandal will follow. But it's been such a lovely evening. And, it IS dreadfully cold. Who could fault her for staying just a bit longer when it's so cold out?
'
The guy's side of things is simply not wanting her to leave and trying to convince her to stay by offering her compliments and cigarettes and saying "it's far too cold for you to go, anyway."
'
That's it. That's all there is to it. There's no drugging, no rape. People took this song, written in an era before a lot of them were born, and tried to twist it into something about a guy being so into a woman he drugs her and tries to rape her. Because apparently that's the thing people these days think you do when it's snowing outside.
If you really understand the subtlety (which was probably much easier when the song was written and the context was understood), then it's not that bad. But if you only catch snippets (as most people do), in modern context, it sounds super rapey.
'
Going to go on a tangent here, feel free to hop off at any point.
'
When I first heard "Kristy are you doing okay," I didn't know the name of the song, but I liked the tune. Since it mostly played randomly when I was at work I couldn't hear it super well and didn't have the attention to pay to it, and so I'd just hum along with it sometimes.
'
And then one day I heard the line "though the marks on your dress had been neatly repressed, I knew that something was wrong."
'
That sounded rather ominous, so I looked it up, and learned the song was actually about child abuse.
'
So for quite awhile I thought this song was about some teenage sexcapade or romance or something. It seemed a touch out of place, but rather than turn it into a drama I went and looked up the lyrics and learned it has nothing to do with sex-- it's a two true stories woven into one about a guy whose friend dies on her way to graduation, and so he steals the urn of her ashes from the funeral and scatters her at the beach because he "knew she'd want it that way."
'
It only takes half a moment usually to find the motivation behind a lot of lyrics, and it's much better than going off half-cocked and trying to ruin the song for everybody
'
"What's this?? She *thought* about saying no? And he still ASKED if it would be okay to move closer?? That creep! That pervert! Firs she asks him what kind of drink he made her and now this?? How dare he pressure her into his twisted sexual shenanigans! Dishonour on your whole family! Dishonour on you! Dishonour on your cow!"
'
And yet "every breath you take" was widely considered a love song
'
As a side note I'm not even a big fan of 90% of the versions of the song. Literally the only version I've ever heard that I liked was the Glee version. And I don't even like Glee.
But this blunt is so delightful
You should droppin' it down low
Stay at home, be a ho, let it snow!"
I swear if one more person pulls a shit out of their ass opinion about something as innocent as this one more time I swear I am going on a killing spree.
Next thing you know we can't have Santa because he is a big fat guy who sneaks into people's houses while people sleep.
They will say why is he a WHITE fat GUY why not a Buff BLACK WOMAN who kncoks on the front door during day time and hands over money so SHE doesn't use elves for free labor? It isn't Santa's workshop it is Santa's sweatshop!
(-.-)
&
What I am referring to is story santa. The one in the Christmas poem. Mall santa be what ever makes the best santa.
'
As a side note: someone I knows school thought it would be appropriate to have 6 year olds sing Eleanor Rigby because Christmas music was offensive