Opinion of "Baby, It's Cold Outside"

[Meclazine for Israel]

1944 Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MFJ7ie_yGU

Original lyrics

The neighbors might think (Baby it's bad out there)
Say what's in this drink (No cabs to be had out there)
I wish I knew how (Your eyes are like starlight now)
To break this spell (I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell)
I ought to say "No, no, no sir" (Mind if I move in closer?)
At least I'm gonna say that I tried (What's the sense in hurtin' my pride?)



2019 John Legend Version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtA9FDLWOG8

New Lyrics

What will my friends think? (I think they should rejoice)
If I have one more drink? (It's your body and your choice)
Ooh you really know how (Your eyes are like starlight now)
To cast a spell (One look at you and then I fell)
I ought to say, 'No, no, no, sir' (Then you really ought to go, go, go)
At least I'm gonna say that I tried (Well, Murray, he just pulled up outside)

Controversy surrounding the re-writing of lyrics of old songs.

Should old songs be re-written with more modern contemporary lyrics?

In the case of Guns n Roses song line "immigrants and f****ts spread some f%$^in disease" then I would agree that that is highly inappropriate.

But I dont see the issue with the above original lyrics, and if anything, the new lyrics ruin the basic premise of the song in the first place.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

The remake misses the point of the original.  The original wasn't about date rape, but about how the societal conventions of the time required the woman to have an excuse for acting as she did, even tho the implication was clearly that both  desired the implied result.

The original doesn't work well except as period piece today, but frankly if one had to do a remake of it, it would've been better to poke fun at those now antique societal conventions than to address a subject the original was never about.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The remake misses the point of the original.  The original wasn't about date rape, but about how the societal conventions of the time required the woman to have an excuse for acting as she did, even tho the implication was clearly that both  desired the implied result.

The original doesn't work well except as period piece today, but frankly if one had to do a remake of it, it would've been better to poke fun at those now antique societal conventions than to address a subject the original was never about.

Also most people seem to not know the movie the original is from also includes a reprise with the genders inverted.

[dead0man]

I"m with you guys.  The woman clearly wants to be there with the man, she's worried about what her neighbors and friends will think if she spends the night.  This is not a date rape song, this is a women empowering song.

[RINO Tom]

I"m with you guys.  The woman clearly wants to be there with the man, she's worried about what her neighbors and friends will think if she spends the night.  This is not a date rape song, this is a women empowering song.

Yeah, people who think the song is creepy are dumb.

Original version, but the Lady Antebellum remake is actually really good, too.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

Original eaisly.

The 2019 version sounds like he's trying to get a flirty woman out of his house so he can go fap to his waifus or whatever it is people do these days.

[Xing]

It's gotten tiresome how much crap this song gets. The composer actually wrote this song with his wife as a number they'd do whenever they attended parties, and it's pretty obvious that the song is meant to be playful, and imply that the woman is teasing the man, rather than being held hostage against her will. People just don't know how to analyze music/lyrics well these days, and don't know how to take certain lines any way other than literally.

[Cokeland Saxton]

The original, hands down.

[Meclazine for Israel]

Original eaisly.

The 2019 version sounds like he's trying to get a flirty woman out of his house so he can go fap to his waifus or whatever it is people do these days.

I am going to have to do some research on Google to interpret the meaning of this post.

[T'Chenka]

Original eaisly.

The 2019 version sounds like he's trying to get a flirty woman out of his house so he can go fap to his waifus or whatever it is people do these days.

I am going to have to do some research on Google to interpret the meaning of this post.

"The annoying flirty woman needs to get out of my house, I've been waiting and waiting to masterbate to my Japanese porno."

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

Straightforwardly an annoying, uninteresting song for completely amoral and apolitical reasons. The fact that regardless of original context it now comes across as sinister to a lot of listeners also probably means that it shouldn't be getting constant radio play for the same reason that, say, "Civilization (Bongo Bongo Bongo)" (a song that I actually like) doesn't. In other words, I'm mostly with Ernest on this. And that rewrite...geez. I'll take "Glurgy Moralizing" for $600, Alex!

[Progressive Pessimist]

I agree with the post above mine, neither. Even ignoring how poorly the original aged, and how poorly the new version tries to update it, I just hate how it sounds.

[Okay, maybe Mike Johnson is a competent parliamentarian.]

I agree with the post above mine, neither.

I actually voted for the original. It's one of my least favorite seasonal songs and sets my teeth on edge every time I hear it, but those rewritten lyrics make it look like Goethe.

[All Along The Watchtower]

*insert Adam Curtis voiceover about Sayyid Qutb*

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The funny thing is this was an obscure song until about 5 years ago when some people threw a fit and radio stations banned it and it got more attention due to the Streisand Effect. I didn't even know of it until college. And then it became a supposed "holiday classic".

Also love how people tried to tie its banning into the supposed "War on Christmas" when the song never mentions Christmas in either a religious or secular sense and is from a movie released in June. Both sides really needed to chill out there.

[Progressive Pessimist]

The funny thing is this was an obscure song until about 5 years ago when some people threw a fit and radio stations banned it and it got more attention due to the Streisand Effect. I didn't even know of it until college. And then it Verne a supposed "holiday classic".

Also love how people tried to tie its banning into the supposed "War on Christmas" when the song never mentions Christmas in either a religious or secular sense and is from a movie released in June. Both sides really needed to chill out there.

The first time I remember ever hearing it was in 'Elf' from 2003 (in an apropos scene where Will Ferrell's character sings it with Zooey Deschanel while she's showering). So clearly it was at least somewhat of a mainstream classic for more than five years and even before the backlash against it.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

The funny thing is this was an obscure song until about 5 years ago when some people threw a fit and radio stations banned it and it got more attention due to the Streisand Effect. I didn't even know of it until college. And then it Verne a supposed "holiday classic".

Also love how people tried to tie its banning into the supposed "War on Christmas" when the song never mentions Christmas in either a religious or secular sense and is from a movie released in June. Both sides really needed to chill out there.

The first time I remember ever hearing it was in 'Elf' from 2003 (in an apropos scene where Will Ferrell's character sings it with Zooey Deschanel while she's showering). So clearly it was at least somewhat of a mainstream classic for more than five years and even before the backlash against it.

Yes that kind of rejuvenated its popularity, but 2003 is quite a bit after its release. It's also when I was in college.

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

For example note this 2009 xkcd doesn't even mention it:



Of course it's possible Randall just didn't include it as as noted there is no mention of Christmas at all in it. But that is also true of "Winter Wonderland".

He also left off the single most insufferable Christmas song, "Santa Baby".

[Santander]

How are "Last Christmas", "Do They Know It's Christmas" or "All I Want for Christmas is You" not on there?

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

How are "Last Christmas", "Do They Know It's Christmas" or "All I Want for Christmas is You" not on there?

Because embarrassingly I overlooked that he didn't just arbitrarily pick a bunch of Christmas songs, these are the 20 most played from 2000-2009.

Still that even strengthens the point. It wasn't even a top 20 most played song that decade and was fairly obscure. It no doubt would be on the list today, (along with the aforementioned insufferable "Santa Baby".)

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

Also I think all of those songs were popularized via streaming services. So they too were probably underplayed in the 00s.