There’s still plenty of time to rework your Christmas music playlist, especially if you’re feeling a bit weird about including a holiday staple that’s been getting some unwanted attention lately. Now that the 1944 chestnut “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is suddenly on a lot of people’s naughty list, the Internet has provided some clever alternative versions that replace what some see as the coercive, overly macho tone of the original with a more #MeToo-friendly vibe.
The flap over the lyrics to the 74-year-old song — which, it’s worth noting, never mentions anything Christmas-related — has inspired some radio stations to yank it from their playlists amid claims that it sounds like a wind-up to a potential date rape, even as outlets like Fox News have bah-humbugged the attack on what they say is an innocent song that snowflakes are overreacting to, with some branding it a feminist anthem.
William Shatner Goes To WAR Over ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside,’ Claims People Are Too Easily Offended https://t.co/NWPYM9tkg5
— Sarah Palin (@SarahPalinUSA) December 13, 2018
Trending on Billboard
I just ate raw cookie dough wrapped in romaine lettuce, while listenin’ to Baby It’s Cold Outside. Because I like livin’ life on the edge. Merica.
— Cloyd Rivers (@CloydRivers) December 14, 2018
Susan Loesser, 74, daughter of the song’s writer, Frank Loesser, told The New York Times, “We’re all kind of mystified. The #MeToo movement, which I approve of, has really overstepped in this. You have to look at things in cultural and historical context.” Frank Loessser (Guys and Dolls) originally wrote the tune for himself and his wife to perform in their living room, with the original score labeling the parts as “Wolf” and “Mouse.” According to The Times, the couple performed it as a “flirtatious song,” with Susan Loesser noting that “in those days, in the entertainment business, you had to bring an act to parties… this was their act.”
Billboard already told you about the Holderness Family’s rewrite, but here are four other versions that give “Baby” a warmer vibe.
Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski
Megan Jones & Luc Rinaldi
Be Tiny
And finally, guitarist Ross Skywalker, who tabled the controversy entirely by turning the song into an instrumental.