WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec 14 (DPI) – Some of America’s Neo-Puritans have decided that the 1940s song “Baby It’s Cold Outside” carries overtones of predatory sexual behavior, another case of “let’s apply today’s social standards to the culture of yesteryear,” as one reader put it.

Apparently a few East Coast radio stations will no longer play the song, written in 1944 by Frank Loesser, who also composed the Broadway musical “Guys and Dolls.”

The lyrics – here in their entirety – in their original context are playful and innocent – remarkable given that they’re written during WWII. Moreover, most of today’s listeners would be hard-pressed to the lyrics interpret them as a “prelude to date rape,” as The New York Times put it:

I really can’t stay (but baby, it’s cold outside)
I’ve got to go away (but 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)
But 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 sir (mind if I move in closer?)
At least I’m gonna say that I tried (what’s the sense in hurtin’ my pride?)

I really can’t stay (oh baby don’t hold out)
But baby, it’s cold outside

I simply must go (but baby, it’s cold outside)
The answer is no (but baby, it’s cold outside)

Your welcome has been(how lucky that you dropped in)
So nice and warm (look out the window at this dawn)

My sister will be suspicious (gosh your lips look delicious)
My brother will be there at the door (waves upon the tropical shore)

My maiden aunts mind is vicious (gosh your lips are delicious)
But maybe just a cigarette more (never such a blizzard before)

I’ve gotta get home(but baby, you’d freeze out there)
Say lend me a 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 (think of my lifelong sorrow)
At least there will be plenty implied (if you got pnuemonia and died)

I really can’t stay (get over that old out)
Baby, it’s cold
Baby, it’s cold outside

Songwriters: Frank Loesser

Baby, It’s Cold Outside lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.

The Times report spurred nearly 1,000 reader comments, most of them dismissive and annoyed by the politically correct vilification of a holiday standard. Among the most popular comments:

This is pretty interesting. I clicked on this article because, though I’m a feminist, I’m so weary of what seem to me to be humorless overreactions to things like this. I was prepared to get annoyed. But having read all the lyrics of the song, I understand the debate a little better. Still. Have you LISTENED to some of the current-day pop music??? Music that’s being produced now, in today’s context? It’s dripping with messages along these lines, and I don’t see that making national headlines. That music is far more influential than some goofy holiday song that we hear for a month each year and then forget about. I think dust-ups like this distract from more important conversations and they make the Me Too movement look silly and unrelatable.

Having grown up among strong women I always thought the woman was completely, and sassily, in charge. That’s part of the fun of this song.

This is a nuanced topic. The lyrics need to be taken in historical context. The woman in the song is not saying no to a would-be rapist ignoring her pleas, but rather expressing her wish not to be disapproved of for any sexual indiscretion (as would have been the case in the time of the song’s creation), while wanting to be seduced. This isn’t necessarily to say Loesser supported the double standard of his time; one could even say it was a playful parody of it.

Americans are just not subtle thinkers. This tempest-in-a-teapot controversy stems from an ignorant insistence on literalism and the inability to contextualize. Not to mention a puritan lack of humor. The song is 75 years old, people. We are on the eve of destruction, to quote from another song, and this is what concerns us right now?

Thank you for reminding me of this song! I just added it to my Christmas playlist. People, lighten up. The lyrics are cute and uplifting and the melody contagious. There is no intimidation or force. Why aren’t we paying more attention to global warming?

I want to thank the overwrought opponents of this Loesser classic and the knee-jerk reaction of some radio stations for reminding me of the sweetness and romance of this song. I googled the entire lyrics and to this supporter of women’s rights the evil is only in the mind of the opponents. Surely, when some, maybe most, women say “no,” no means no. But in the context of this song’s lyrics and how “no” is sung by the object of seduction, there is no transgression going on. I hope this controversy will attract a new generation to the joyfulness of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.”

Let’s lighten up. It’s flirtatious, innocent and has a great melody. Persuasion (as opposed to intimidation and aggression) is part of the romantic games people have played since the beginning of time. Let’s put our attention on the serious issues.

Not to mention the most perverted song of all, ‘I saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” Talk about child abuse! Ban it NOW!