Dean Martin's 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' Has Been A Holiday Favorite For 60 Years

Dec 20, 2019 by apost team

Whether you’re snuggled up by the fire or wrapping Christmas presents, the tune “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is one holiday hit that will work for almost any occasion. Even though the song had already been around for a few years, Dean Martin's classic 1959 version remains particularly popular today, in spite of the constant controversy that seems to surround it.

As NPR reported, the #MeToo movement lead to some people trying to put a stop to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” by pegging the lyrics as being sexist and perhaps even hinting at date rape. Some artists have by now tried to reintroduce the song with less offensive lyrics, while many radios continue to blare the original with pride.

Regardless of what you think of the song and its lyrics, it’s obvious that no one is going to stop this hit for long.

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First released in 1944, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” began to gain popularity when it was included in the 1949 Esther Williams musical “Neptune’s Daughter”. While few people today will probably have seen the original movie, it’s almost a guarantee that all of us have heard the famous song!

While the song doesn’t actually mention Christmas, it is popularly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter theme, as evidenced by the song's inclusion on Dean Martin's 1959 Christmas album A Winter Romance.

Over the years, “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has come under major scrutiny. Just earlier this month, John Legend and Kelly Clarkson performed a version with reworked lyrics in an effort to make the song less controversial.

While the world may be divided about these changes, Dean Martin's daughter Deana was not pleased at all, commenting on Fox & Friends that you simply “do not change the lyrics to the song”. She also accused the reworked version of actually making the song sound “more sexual” and went on to say that they were trying to “steal the thunder” from the song that belonged to writer Frank Loesser and her father.

Aside from trying to protect the song from those who want to change it, Deana also was disgusted at the backlash from critics who called it a “date rape” song. She told the hosts of Fox & Friends that it is simply “sweet, flirty, and fun” along with stating that “there’s nothing bad about that song”.

Despite what some people may say about “Baby, It’s Cold Outside”, the original hit still remains a favorite on radio stations and among the public. What do you think of this popular song? Do you believe that the lyrics should be changed to be more sensitive to the #MeTooMovement? Leave your comments below.