Singer-songwriters Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanksi have rewritten the lyrics (below) to ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside‘, the 1944 Frank Loesser classic memorably recorded by Ray Charles and Betty Carter, among others, as a flirtatious duet. Liza and Lemanski have always had a problem with the way the man in the song tries to persuade the woman to stay — where some hear charm they, and others, hear coercion. The Liza-Lemanski version keeps the melody but alters the lyrics, removing the predatory nature of the exchange (as well as the woman’s doubts about what’s in her drink — a mickey?)
This is a slippery slope, of course, a bit like Princeton University trying to forget Woodrow Wilson. Because rewriting older songs (or histories) to suit contemporary mores decouples them from their eras — for better and worse. And if ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ offends Liza and Lemanski, they’re going to be very, very busy in their burgeoning bowdlerization business. Take for example the lyrics of American icon Bruce Springsteen — from far more recently than 1944. Springsteen’s 1977 love song ‘Fire’ sounds menacing to today’s more date-rape sensitive ears. It’s hard not to hear disturbing intimidation and coercion intertwined with the singer’s declaration of desire. What would Liza and Lemanski make of this?
I’m pulling you close
You just say no
You say you don’t like it
But girl I know you’re a liar
I say I wanna stay
You say you wanna be alone
You say you don’t love me
Girl you can’t hide your desire
