Christmas Lyric of the Day
by KevinDecember 11th, 2006
Today’s song cannot really be called a Christmas song, but the fact that it is perfectly American. Baby, It’s Cold Outside is a song of seduction. It can be song with a certain earnestness, or sweetness, or playfulness, or even a touch of the sinister. But it is, emphatically, about getting someone into bed. And that is not, I think, the generally accepted meaning of the Holiday Season. But it does take place in the winter, and so generations of marketing dweebs have sold it to us as a holiday song because, hey, it’s cold in December and people drink a lot. So it has, through the very American application of advertising and the elevation of perception above reality, become a Christmas song.
And at the end of the day it really is a very good song. The song is a duet, so the first portion of each line is one singer, (traditionally the female, though it works perfectly well with the roles reversed or no gender difference) the second portion the other.
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
My father will be pacing the floor - Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I’d better scurry - Beautiful, please don’t hurry
well Maybe just a half a drink more - Put some music 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, sir - Mind if I move a little 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
Ahh, but it’s cold outside
C’mon baby
I simply must go - Baby, it’s cold outside
The answer is no - Ooh baby, it’s cold outside
This welcome has been - I’m lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm — Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious - Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door - Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt’s mind is vicious - Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a half a drink more - Never such a blizzard before
I’ve got to go home - Oh, baby, you’ll freeze out there
Say, lend me your comb - It’s up to your knees out there
You’ve really been grand - Your eyes are like starlight now
But don’t you see - How can you do this thing to me
There’s bound to be talk tomorrow - Making 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 old out
Ahh, but it’s cold outside
Baby it’s cold outside
Brr its cold….
It’s cold out there
Cant you stay awhile longer baby
Well…..I really shouldn’t…alright
Make it worth your while baby
Ahh, do that again….
Categories: Holiday, Xmas Lyric of the Day |
Got this tune on a Dean Martin Christmas CD, I forget who is singing the duet with Dino.
This song is obviously in tradition of “no” means…”maybe”.
Not one of my favorites.
Julia:
I’m about as sensitive to that as anyone, and I don’t think I agree. There’s a difference, after all, between a coy “no” and an emphatic one. In the case of this song, I think it’s abundantly clear that the female is playing coy, else she wouldn’t stay for half a drink more.
Mind you, I’m not in any way trying to trivialize sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape; however, I think any honest assessment of human dating rituals contains an implicit understanding that there really are times when “no” means “maybe.” There’s such a thing as going too far the other way, and if you insist on a hardline “no always means no” approach, you essentially take “playing hard to get” off the table; you make nearly every man guilty of some degree of sexual harassment or worse; you make every romantic comedy ever filmed a misogynistic stalker movie (I might consider giving you that one); and make most women complicit in complicating the problem by playing the same game.
The bottom line is, in human interaction, things are complicated, and there’s no such hard-and-fast rule; that’s part of what makes sexual harassment so tricky, of course, but there’s no simple solution, and “no always means no” causes more problems than it solves.
splendid