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People are still debating if we should be playing 'Baby It's Cold Outside' this Christmas

The Baby It’s Cold Outside debate is still rumbling on [Photo: Getty]
The Baby It’s Cold Outside debate is still rumbling on [Photo: Getty]

The ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ controversy is still rumbling on…

ICYMI, earlier this month a US radio station revealed it was removing ‘Baby It’s Cold Outside’ from its Christmas playlist claiming the song’s lyrics were at odds with the #MeToo movement.

But it didn’t go down well with social media with many arguing that the context of the song had been misunderstood or that other, more current songs were far more offensive.

And now another radio station has waded into the debate by showing their support for the traditional Christmas track.

Instead of pulling it from it’s festive line-up Kentucky radio station, WAKY decided to play the tune on repeat during a two-hour marathon on Sunday.

“I’m not sure why it’s controversial,” Joe Fredele, director of programming for WAKY, told WLKY. “We’ve played this song for years, you know, this song is older than WAKY is. It’s almost 70 years old.”

During the 8am to 10am festive marathon, the station played five different versions of the tune.

The station promoted the proposed play-athon on its Facebook page over the weekend.

“BABY, IT’S COLD OUTSIDE! We like it and we’re not afraid to play it on WAKY for the next couple of hours!” they posted on Sunday morning.

And users were quick to comment on the post, thanking the station for their positive stand.

“Who ever said there’s something wrong with this song, seriously has nothing better to do with their time!” one user wrote.

“Thank you WAKY! The attack on this song has been ridiculous at best. There are rap songs that need a real XXX-rating and yet they play on. Thank you for not caving to these miserable loonies and Merry Christmas!” another agreed.

“Way to go! I’ve never liked the song, but I support your station for playing it on repeat. Let’s show people we won’t stand for their ridiculousness anymore,” yet another user commented.

Yahoo readers can’t see anything wrong with the song [Photo: Yahoo/Opinary]
Yahoo readers can’t see anything wrong with the song [Photo: Yahoo/Opinary]

Written by Frank Loesser in 1944, Baby It’s Cold Outside originally appeared in the film Neptune’s Daughter and has been covered by Lady Gaga, Michael Bublé, Tom Jones and Cerys Matthews and actors Will Ferrell and Zooey Deschanel in the movie Elf.

The tune takes the form of a back-and-forth conversation between a man attempting to dissuade his female date from leaving his house by arguing that the weather is bad.

Normally performed as a male/female duet the song includes lines like “I really can’t stay” and “baby don’t hold out”, which many people regard as suggestive of coercive behaviour and blurs the lines of consent.

The line “say, what’s in this drink”, has drawn particular criticism from some who believe it hints that the woman’s drink has been spiked.

But many people don’t see anything wrong with the song arguing that in the context of the 1940s the song is merely dramatising the woman’s internal battle between wanting to stay and the social expectations that aren’t allowing her to.

Certainly Yahoo UK readers are of the opinion that there’s nothing wrong with the song, with a whopping 95% claiming they don’t see what the problem is.

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