The traditions that surround Christmas are often something that people looked forward to more than the day itself. Perhaps one thing that most people enjoy about the holiday season is listening to Christmas music. Although I’ll be the first one to admit that it gets a little overdone by the stores during the shopping season, listening to Christmas music at home can certainly put you in the mood for the holidays.
Some of the Christmas hits are relatively new, but they are destined to be a part of our lives for many years to come. Others have been around for years or they are covers of those Christmas classics. It really doesn’t matter if you love listening to White Christmas, Frosty The Snowman or any other Christmas classic, you are likely to have a favorite. If you are listening to the radio this year, however, you may have noticed that there is one classic that is often missing from the lineup.
It is a holiday hit from 1944, “Baby It’s Cold outside.” Many radio stations have made the decision to remove the song from their lineup this year because people were saying that the lyrics are offensive. Which lyrics? It is “What’s in this drink?” They also are offended by the person in the song saying that she must go and the answer is no. Some feel that those lyrics point to date rape.
According to the director of sexual assault services at the Center for Women and Families, Amy Turner: “We really need to think about the impact that songs have, not just ‘Baby, It’s Cold Outside,’ but numerous songs that we decide to play on the radio.”
The #MeToo movement is primarily responsible for the controversy. There is a radio station in Kentucky, however, who decided to support the song by playing it for two hours straight.
We are not talking about simply putting the song on repeat and walking away, radio station, WAKY played 5 versions of the song over a two hour window between 8 AM and 10 AM on Sunday morning.
The marathon stretch of Baby It’s Cold outside was announced in advance and people were encouraged to tune in.
The director of programming for WAKY, Joe Fredele, feels that the controversy is nonsense. He supports the #MeToo movement but in his words: “This song is not about that. All it is, is a dialogue between a man and a woman, and at the end of the song, you hear them harmonize together, so they’re agreeing basically.”
He also has the following to say about playing the song for two hours straight: “It’s just a fun way of saying, ‘Hey this is our vote for that song. It’s a fun song. It’s a romantic song, don’t pick on it.’”
I guess everybody has a side and the right to express it.