
Baby It's Cold Outside: A literary look at the most controversial Christmas song of all time
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For decades, “Baby it’s Cold Outside” was seen as a flirtatious duet between two adults who seem to have hit it off at a Christmas party. Recently, the lyrics have generated controversy as modern audiences express concern about the male persona’s persistence.
Is the song about lighthearted holiday fun, or is there a darker subtext that warrants further discussion? Proper literary analysis requires context and critical thinking. In this article, we take a literary look at “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” explaining what it meant to listeners in 1944 and how modern audiences might think about it today.
What’s the history of Baby It’s Cold Outside?

In 1944, Frank Loesser (writer of the music for Guys and Dolls) penned “Baby it’s Cold Outside” to perform as a skit with his wife at their housewarming party.
While “Baby,” wouldn’t reach a wide audience until 1949, Loesser described the song as an instant hit.
“We became instant parlor room stars. We got invited to all the best parties for years on the basis of 'Baby.' It was our ticket to caviar and truffles. Parties were built around our being the closing act.”
In 1949, Loesser sold the song to MGM. Interestingly, the song was chosen by MGM to avoid controversy. Originally, the studio had intended to use a different Loesser tune, “I’d Like To Get You On A Slow Boat to China.”
It’s lyrics:
I'd love to get you On A Slow Boat To China
All by myself, alone
Get you and keep you in my arms evermore
Leave all your lovelies weeping on the far away shore
Were deemed too overtly sexual for audiences at the time. The people of 1949 weren’t ready, and “Baby” was used instead.
It was popularized in the film, Neptunes Bounty, eventually winning the 1950 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
The song has been adapted by dozens of artists and was deemed one of the Top 100 hits of the 20th Century by Time Magazine.
Despite its influence, however, the song has been met with controversy from the start. In 1950, Time wrote:
“Queasy NBC first banned the lyrics as too racy, then decided they contained nothing provably prurient, and put the tune on the air. Baby hit the hit parade and began climbing.”
People were very concerned with the provably prurient back in 1950. A survey conducted in the 50s revealed that more than half of all college-educated men expected the woman they married to be a virgin.
The consequences for premarital sex were steep for everyone but particularly for women. Abortion was illegal. Contraception access was limited. Societal expectations were brutal. This was an age when unwed mothers could be sent to rehabilitation centers. When sexually active women suspected of carrying venereal disease could be incarcerated.
All of this is to say that the woman, in “Baby it’s Cold Outside,” was not in a position to behave in an overtly sexual manner. We live now in an age that is very rightly concerned with making sure people feel comfortable saying no. However, in 1944, it could be just as challenging to say yes.
Say, what’s in this drink?
Why, that would be booze, Esther. But then, I think you already knew that. “Say what’s in this drink,” is one of the most frequently flagged and defended lyrics in “Baby it’s Cold Outside.”
But while the line is skin-crawling creepy to the modern listener, apologists ask that it be viewed in context. “Say what’s in this drink,” was a common colloquialism of the 1940s, insinuating that a person’s cheeky behavior could be attributed to alcohol—even though they haven’t actually consumed very much of it at all.
My Take
Recently, I was watching Love Hard on Netflix with my family. At one point, the male and female leads are asked to sing “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” for their neighbors in a Christmas concert. The female lead, played by Nina Dobrev, objects. She’s already disclosed that she feels the song has been “Putting the hip back in Rohypnol since 1944).
The male lead, played by Jimmy O. Yang, assures her that they can modify the lyrics to make them more suitable. Here’s what they come up with:
I really can’t stay
No problem there’s the door
I’ve got to go away
I hear ya, say no more
This evening has been
Totally consensual
So very nice
I hope you get home safe tonight
It’s hard to imagine Frank Sinatra adapting this version, but maybe that’s okay. I can accept that “Baby It’s Cold Outside” is the story of a woman carefully navigating the sexual politics of her day to get what she wants.
I can even imagine the quiet dignity of a woman in this position, understanding the risk she is taking but deciding to stay in that parlor anyway. That might have been an empowering story in 1944. But in 2023?
This evening has been—totally consensual.
I like that version better. It’s a little on the nose, perhaps, but clear communication is vital in establishing consent. If “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” accomplishes nothing else, it at least paints a clear picture of how sexual politics have evolved over the last century.
That’s something.