'Baby, It's Cold Outside' Anthem To Date Rape: Cleveland Radio

CLEVELAND, OH — Oh, baby, did a Cleveland radio station ever give the cold shoulder to a Christmas classic, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” knocking the nearly 75-year-old song off its airwaves after it was criticized as an anthem to date rape and counter to everything the #MeToo movement seeks to correct.

“Guys and Dolls” lyricist Frank Loesser penned the song in 1944 and originally performed it as a humorous duet with his wife. The woman in the duet is clear that she worries about being with a man late into the night and how her reputation might suffer, but he protests and asks her to stay because, well, you know, “Baby, it’s cold outside.”

And he’s not accepting “no” for an answer. Some of the other lines that prompted Star 102 radio (WDOK-FM) to pull the song from its playlist included:

“Say, what’s in this drink?”

“I really can’t say / Baby don’t hold out.”

“I ought to say no, no, no / Mind if I move in closer?”

In a blog post, host Glenn Anderson wrote that he didn’t initially see the song as offensive, but read the lyrics that may have been appropriate in 1944 don’t stand up under the glare of the #MeToo movement.

Your Turn: Do you think the radio station was right and that “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is inappropriate in the #MeToo era? Or is this PC run amok? Tell us what you think in the comments.

“I gotta be honest, I didn't understand why the lyrics were so bad,” Anderson wrote. “Until I read them.”

Reading the lyrics in 2018, they seem “very manipulative and wrong,” he wrote. “The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place.”

The Urban Dictionary even describes “Baby It’s Cold Outside” as a “Christmas Date Rape Song.”

Though some of the station’s listeners protested the decision as over-the-top political correctness, Cleveland Rape Crisis Center President Sondra Miller told television station WJW it sends an important message about consent.

“The character in the song is saying ‘no,’ and they're saying well, ‘does no really mean yes?’ and I think in 2018, what we know is consent is ‘yes’ and if you get a ‘no’ it means ‘no’ and you should stop right there,” she said.

It’s important, Miller said, “to stop and think about the perspective of a survivor who was raped in that type of circumstance.”

Women were among those who criticized the station on social media.

One woman, who listens to the station on her commute to and from work, said that “if you guys start giving into this BS, I’m done.”

“Tired of a bunch of snowflakes that get offended about EVERYTHING ruining EVERYTHING for everyone else. If you don't like it... Turn. The. Channel. Obviously these sensitive people keep on listening to pick the play list apart.”

“I will not be listening to this station anymore myself if they give in to sensitive people,” another female listener wrote. “The song has been out there for a long time and now it offends people. Come on. This is getting out of hand with all the people that are offended by stuff. I'm offended that these people waste our time on this stuff. I actually already stopped listening to this station the other day when I heard this was happening.

Controversy surrounding the song isn’t new this year.

Two years ago, a Minnesota couple rewrote the lyrics to “Baby It’s Cold Outside” to reflect a woman’s right to say no. Singer-songwriters Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski, both of Minneapolis, shared a mutual distaste for lyrics and changed them to emphasize the importance of consent.

“I’ve always had a big problem with the song,” Lemanski told CNN in 2016. “It’s so aggressive and inappropriate.”

Liza said she and her boyfriend began looking at all the open-ended questions and the one that was never answered.

“You never figure out if she gets to go home,” she told CNN. “You never figure out if there was something in her drink. It just leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth.”

Below are both the original lyrics and the rewritten lyrics:

Frank Loesser Original Lyrics

I really can't stay / Baby it's cold outside
I've got to go away / Baby it's cold outside
This evening has been / Been hoping that you'd drop in
So very nice / I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice
My mother will start to worry / Beautiful, what's your hurry?
Father will be pacing the floor / Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I'd better scurry / Beautiful, please don't hurry
Maybe just a half a drink more / Put some records on while I pour
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 / Mind if I move in closer?
At least I'm gonna say that I tried / What's the sense in hurting my pride?
I really can't stay / Baby don't hold out
Ah, but it's cold outside
I've got to get home / Oh, baby, you'll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat / It's up to your knees out there
You've really been grand / Thrill when you touch my hand
Why don't you see / How can you do this thing to me?
There's bound to be talk tomorrow / Think of my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied / If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can't stay / Get over that hold out
Ah, but it's cold outside

Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski Rewritten Lyrics

I really can't stay / Baby I'm fine with that
I've got to go away / Baby I'm cool with that
This evening has been / Been hoping you get home safe
So very nice / I'm glad you had a real good time
My mother will start to worry / Call her so she knows that you're coming
Father will be pacing the floor / Better get your car a-humming
So really I'd better scurry / No rush.
Should I use the front or back door? / Which one are you pulling towards more?
The neighbors might think / That you're a real nice girl
What is this drink? / Pomegranate La Croix
I wish I knew how / Maybe I can help you out
To break this spell / I don't know what you're talking about
I ought to say no, no, no / You reserve the right to say no
At least I'm gonna say that I tried / You reserve the right to say no
I really can't stay / … Well you don't have to
Baby it's cold outside
I've got to get home / Do you know how to get there from here
Say, where is my coat / I'll go and grab it my dear
You've really been grand / We'll have to do this again
Yes I agree / How 'bout the Cheesecake Factory?
We're bound to be talking tomorrow / Text me at your earliest convenience
At least I have been getting that vibe / Unless I catch pneumonia and die
I'll be on my way / Thanks for the great night

Image: In this handout photo provided by Disney Parks, Lea Michele and Joey McIntyre of NKOTB perform “Baby, It's Cold Outside” during a taping of “The Wonderful World of Disney: Magical Holiday Celebration” at Sleeping Beauty's Castle at Walt Disneyland on Nov. 14, 2017, in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Matt Petit/Disney Parks via Getty Images)