Q/A: Are We Becoming Too Quick to be Offended? Baby it’s Cold Outside
I like to begin class with a Q/A. A Q/A is a question or ideas to be explored. Here is an example: Q/A: Are we becoming people who are too quick to be offended?
The 2018 Christmas controversy was a song that has been in the standard rotation of Christmas classics replayed each December on car radios and in the malls. Baby, it’s Cold Outside was written by a prolific Broadway composer in 1944. The song won an Academy Award for best original song in the film Neptune’s daughter. Radio stations have moved to ban the song but then were hit with an overwhelming angry backlash from their listeners.
In the spirit of critical people finding offense in pretty much anything versus a laid back person understanding that no offense was meant or intended, lets give our students an opportunity to evaluating the lyrics placing them in a context that makes sense to them and understanding how maybe someone might come to a different conclusion.
Girl lyrics are the first part of the sentence/ the Guy lyrics are the second half of the sentence. Girls interpret the Girl lyrics. What is she communicating to the Guy? Boys interpret the Guy lyrics. What is he communicating to the Girl?
In every couple there usually is one who is more persuasive.
“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” original version by Frank Loesser
First verse
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?
Chorus
I really can’t stay ——- Baby don’t hold out
Baby, but it’s cold outside
Second verse
I simply must go ——- Baby, it’s cold outside
The answer is no ——- Ooh baby, it’s cold outside
Your 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 ——- Gosh, 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 cigarette more ——– Never such a blizzard before
I’ve got to get home ——- Oh, baby, you’d freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat ——- It’s up to your knees out there
You’ve really been grand ——- I thrill when you touch my hand
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
Chorus
I really can’t stay ——- Get over that hold out
Baby, but it’s cold
Baby it’s cold outside
Q/A What is your opinion of this song? Thumbs up or thumbs down then explain your thinking.
Teacher Information
A Little history to put this song in proper perspective.
“Susan Loesser, the daughter of Frank Loesser (the author of the lyrics), says her father had no ill intentions when he wrote Baby It’s Cold Outside. It was a song my father wrote for him and my mother to sing at parties. Deana shared that the two characters are playing along with each other as the male attempts to woo his lady to stay a little longer due to the chilly weather. “It’s flirty, it’s sexy, it’s sweet — there’s nothing bad about that song,” said Deana. “It just breaks my heart.” (to hear how it is characterized now)
The idiom What’s in this drink? —- the phrase generally referred to someone saying or doing something they thought they wouldn’t in normal circumstances. In other words alcohol is “Making” them do something unusual. The JOKE is the drink is the excuse—there is nothing in the drink.
My opinion
This is a beautifully written song (melody and lyrics) characterizing the special chemistry between men and women who are attracted to each other. Within each couple there is one person who is more persuasive. In this song, they are evenly matched. How they respond to each other tells you they are listening to each other. He’s attracted to her and wants her to stay a little longer so he provides her with great excuses for her to use to explain why she stayed. She is attracted to him and would like to stay a little longer yet knows she shouldn’t. There are social expectations for her to meet and a reputation to maintain. More than 70 years later nothing has changed between men and women and the people who will observe and judge their behavior. Susan Loesser is correct; this is and was meant to be view as a wonderful flirty, sexy, sweet song. This song was not about sex, it was about being alone together. She does not want to go but knows she must go to avoid “talk”. Being proper in the 40’s, 50’s 60’s………… required it.
Here is reality Men will always test women to see if they are easy or not. (Guy talk—girlfriends are easy, future wives are not. This is code meaning respect, love, and ongoing special treatment is given to girls who have demonstrated they are not easy.)
That will always be a character issue for men.
Within a Health Unit entitled, Steps of Intimacy, I firmly inform my students that
“Years ago a survey conducted by the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault discovered that nearly 1/3 of people who were on a jury thought that agreeing to go back to someone’s home after a date signals consent. This means that if you voluntarily go to where you are alone with the accused, a member of the jury may judge the victim’s thinking more severely than what occurred in the isolated area.
I believe girls NEED to understand and know this. I tell them, if you put yourself in a situation where unpleasant things happen to you, 12 people you do not know and do not love you will decide if someone goes to prison or if someone should have known better. They will weigh the girl being foolish/naive/trusting with the guy going to prison. Up to 1/3 of those 12 people will have doubts about YOU.
