# In defense of "Baby It's Cold Outside." **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041 "2014-12-01T16:17:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/61 "2014-12-03T04:15:28Z")
Is it weird that we sang this in high school choir? I actually kind of like the song, but that seemed an odd choice from our director. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/62 "2014-12-03T05:11:06Z")
> [@zbuzz](#): > > Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone sing it on the Elf soundtrack. She sings her part pretty much the same as she does in the shower scene. It’s pretty different from the She & Him version. So unless it’s Will Ferrell’s melodious voice you really like (or aren’t a fan of Leon Redbone) you might like it. Honestly, I think Ferrell is wait makes the version actually in the move so good. He has a quiet genuineness to his voice that really makes it work. The version in the soundtrack sounds pretty much like every other version of the song. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/63 "2014-12-03T08:08:52Z")
I was thinking, it’s pretty strange for it to have come from a swimming picture. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/64 "2014-12-03T12:51:17Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Yeah, I think the Betty Boop voice was Madonna’s invention for that song. And it sucks. Eartha Kitt, however, can do no wrong. I’ve heard it. All credit Ms. Kitt and all, but I still hate the song. ---
**Author:** ![Blue\_Mood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac91a4/32.png) [@Blue\_Mood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blue_Mood)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/65 "2014-12-03T13:17:06Z")
[quote=“Rick\_Kitchen, post:40, topic:706041”] There’s the same-gender version from Glee: [/QUOTE] Thanks for sharing. That link didn’t work for me, but I found it here: [Glee Baby it’s Cold Outside](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFufE3mCTyU). Their voices are smoothly well-suited, and they capture the playful banter well, despite the constrained setting. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/66 "2014-12-03T13:28:05Z")
I missed the “rapey” subtext of BICO until I saw the Key & Peele skit. I had just assumed that the girl was being coy, mostly because of the line “At least I’m gonna say that I tried”. (And don’t jump on me; I’m female.) > [@BigT](#): > > I don’t think it’s rapey without the girl being in on it. It just feels very one-sided and underhanded. I much prefer the subtext of Let It Snow. > > I also like that Let It Snow is cheery like a Christmas song, and doesn’t use a seductive tone. THat’s why I don’t like “Santa, Baby” all that much. (Well, that and the girl always does that creepy fake cute voice.) I heard a version of “Santa, Baby” that made me want to scream and clutch my ears. Also, I became diabetic listening to it. _ptui_ I also like “Let it Snow” more than “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, but I’d take either over the dreck I’ve heard played in stores this year. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/67 "2014-12-03T14:16:37Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I am not a fan of the song myself, but Eartha Kitt does it right. Because I have a young-ish daughter and all my reference points are now animated movies, all I can hear in my head now is Eartha Kitt as Yzma singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with Patrick Warburton as Kronk. It kind of needs to happen. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/68 "2014-12-03T14:40:57Z")
> [@bup](#): > > The part where I get really uncomfortable is the verse where it comes out that they’re married to other people, and are cousins. And the verse where he slips the bondage cuffs on her and says it’s too cold outside for safewords. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/69 "2014-12-03T14:41:08Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Having said that, I’ve never listened to the lyrics (I see it discussed here every year), but I dislike the song just based on the way it sounds. To me, personally, I can’t stand the two part ‘harmony’. It just sounds like two people singing their own songs that have nothing to do with each other lyrically or musically. It’s like hearing two different songs at once. You ARE hearing two different songs at once. It’s called counterpoint. Bach does it and some other Big Names, too. I had no idea there was this controversy about this song. I’ve always heard it in innocent superficiality with no subtext. And I will promptly forget about this thread and continue to hear it that way. \<_Walks away shaking head_\> ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/70 "2014-12-03T14:54:20Z")
When both male and female singers are happily singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” that kinda seals the deal for me that it’s playful flirtation. She’s in on it, he’s on it, everything is kopasetic. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/71 "2014-12-03T15:08:28Z")
[Liza Minelli and Alan Cumming](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bhR3j7l_wTo) do a good job singing it. ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/72 "2014-12-03T15:18:56Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > You ARE hearing two different songs at once. It’s called counterpoint. Bach does it and some other Big Names, too. I wonder why. I wonder why. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/73 "2014-12-03T16:00:52Z")
> [@Flywheel](#): > > I wonder why. > I wonder why. 😉 [The counterpoint starts around 1:52.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGBbfAkzZvM) ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/74 "2014-12-03T16:14:20Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Because I have a young-ish daughter and all my reference points are now animated movies, all I can hear in my head now is Eartha Kitt as Yzma singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with Patrick Warburton as Kronk. It kind of needs to happen. YES!!!😃 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/75 "2014-12-03T16:27:30Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > Because I have a young-ish daughter and all my reference points are now animated movies, all I can hear in my head now is Eartha Kitt as Yzma singing “Baby It’s Cold Outside” with Patrick Warburton as Kronk. It kind of needs to happen. Man, that would be awesome! Unfortunately, Ms. Kitt died in 2008. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2014, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/76 "2014-12-03T16:50:59Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Man, that would be awesome! Unfortunately, Ms. Kitt died in 2008. ☹ Didnt stop Martina McBride from making a Duet with Dino.😛 ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2014, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/77 "2014-12-04T10:40:00Z")
> [@Labrador\_Deceiver](#): > > You’ve never heard the original and definitive version of Santa Baby? Eartha Kitt does not use a fake cutesy voice. It’s very sultry. No I hadn’t. And I admit it’s a lot better in that department. But it still sounds a bit like she’s adding a bit of “whisper” to it to lighten it. But maybe that’s because I’m more used to her voice as she got older. Also, the [pics](http://youtu.be/jFMyF9fDKzE?t=44s) that are shown on the YouTube version…meow! ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/78 "2014-12-05T00:11:03Z")
I also am not a fan of any version of the date rape Christmas song :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Suse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@Suse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suse)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041/79 "2014-12-05T04:24:19Z")
My favorite is the version by Vanessa Williams and Bobby Caldwell. (Sorry, having trouble linking with this touchscreen.) It seems apparent that she is as willing to be persuaded as he is eager to persuade. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-defense-of-baby-its-cold-outside/706041.md?page=3)