Baby, It’s Cold Outside ‘date rape’ lines get MeToo update
American singer John Legend has rewritten the classic Christmas song Baby, It’s Cold Outside to focus its lyrics on consent in the wake of the MeToo movement.
The song, originally written in 1944, is about a man trying to convince a woman to spend the night while she hesitantly suggests she should leave.
The lyrics have provoked controversy for several years, but there has been renewed criticism in the wake of the MeToo movement against sexual harassment, with several radio stations banning it from playlists last year.
Legend revealed to Vanity Fair that he has updated the lyrics with Natasha Rothwell, the comedian, and recorded it with Kelly Clarkson, the US singer, for a Christmas release.
The original duet, written by Frank Loesser, includes alternate lines between a man and woman where he tries to convince her not to risk a journey home in bad weather.
Instead, he tries to convince her to have another drink and spend the night.
It has since been covered by artists including Dean Martin, Tom Jones and Lady Gaga.
Some critics have interpreted the line ‘‘Say, what’s in this drink? (No cabs to be had out there)’’ as a possible allusion to date rape.
According to Vanity Fair, Legend and Clarkson’s updated lines include ‘‘What will my friends think? (I think they should rejoice)/If I have one more drink? (It’s your body, and your choice).’’
Last year a radio station in Cleveland, Ohio, made headlines after it stopped playing Baby, It’s Cold Outside after some listeners said the song was inappropriate. However, others have argued that the song, which featured in the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter, illustrates how women were unable to be openly sexual at the time.
Among those to defend it was Martin’s daughter Deana Martin, who said last year: ‘‘[The female character in the song] is sweet, she’s playing along with him. It’s flirting, it’s sexy, it’s sweet. There’s nothing bad about that song, and it just breaks my heart’’. – Telegraph Group