Is the furor going around about a Cleveland radio station pulling the song "Baby It's Cold Outside" justified?

Just more non-issues for people to get fake-outraged about.

The song is pretty dumb, but it’s definitely not an “ode to date rape”. Makes me wonder if the same people who go after this old “problematic” song are saying the same thing about numerous rap songs with much more troubling lyrics.

What I want to know is who are the people in this world who don’t have bigger shit to worry about than either:

1.) Potentially objectionable lyrics in an old song or
2.) The fact that other people find the lyrics of an old song objectionable

I think both groups are overreacting.

Here’s the scene from the 1949 movie it’s taken from. I agree. There is a LOT worse out there. Hell, even Rod Stewart’s stuff is more suggestive than that song.

I do see a bit of the point. She’s trying to leave, he’s almost forcefully stopping her from leaving. But, as used to be a common portrayal by the male directors, she’s not really trying to leave. She wants him to make her stay. No means yes.

I can’t recall ever hearing it myself on any radio stations I listen to at Christmas time. What do you want to bet I hear it this year.

I think it originally got attention because of the “hey what’s in this drink” line. Which, to me, was a misunderstanding. It’s not supposed to imply that he literally drugged her drink, she’s trying to explain away her feelings for him by blaming it on alcohol. I can understand objecting to a message of “no means yes” for obvious reasons. But jesus, we all have bigger shit to spend our energy on, don’t we?

To be fair, there have been some recent songs that have gotten flak for their lyrics; it’s not just people mining old songs for something to be outraged about. There was a Rick Ross song from 2013 that had these lines in it:

“Put Molly all in her champagne, she ain’t even know it
I took her home and I enjoyed that, she ain’t even know it”

Ignoring the fact that Ross can’t rhyme for shit, it’s pretty obvious what this means. He responded to criticism by saying that it was “misunderstood”. Sure.

Yes we do @Mariah! I, for example, gotta go get some cash to give to the firewood guy for when he delivers the firewood tonight. We need firewood because baby, it’s cold outside.

Anybody remember this toe tapper? :D

It sounds like a subject Clevelandites should be concerned about, not everybody else.
If I don’t like a song on the radio, I change the station.

I used to listen to a radio station and I liked their play list. But their commercials were so dang radically right wing I just couldn’t stand it any more. It just fired up the fake outrage over the government taking away our rights and guns and all of that.
I finally sent them an email and told them I wouldn’t be listening to their station any more, for that reason.
They wrote back almost immediately, but I don’t know what they said.

People in Cleveland were complaining about the song so they were wise to pull it.

I don’t like the cat and mouse in the song, but I can easily ignore it too. I don’t like a lot of wording in a lot of songs, but if the beat or melody is good I can find myself singing along or dancing to it.

When I pay attention to the words it sounds like coercion from my born in 1968 female perspective. But, back in the time of the song the woman was supposed to put up a fuss to demonstrate some respectability (a horrible custom) similar to when someone refused a second helping of food, but is actually still hungry, or when someone initially won’t let another person pick up the dinner check, but after objecting and then insisting, they accept the offer.

It’s always been my least favorite popular Christmas song.

No

What outstanding free advertising for the radio station.

And the song, @canidmajor. I honestly don’t remember hearing it before, although I’m sure I have. But today I heard it in an elementary classroom for the first time. I wouldn’t have given it a second thought except for all the advertising about it.