Baby, That’s Cold. Outside.

The Winter call and response song, Baby, It’s Cold Outside, was written by Frank Loesser in 1944 to sing with his wife at parties, but was popular enough that he sold it to MGM. In the film Neptune’s Daughter, Esther Williams sang the ‘mouse’ lyrics to Ricardo Montalban’s ‘wolf’ but later Red Skelton also sings mouse to Betty Garrett’s wolf.

I probably first heard Baby, It’s Cold Outside on the radio sung by Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark. I also remember hearing Louis Armstrong cajoling Velma Middleton at some point. Much, much later Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone did a nice version to close the film, Elf.

To my innocent ears it sounded like banter between a couple that were both interested but not yet all that intimate.The woman’s concerns about her reputation were still very real for the 1940s, but just nostalgic in an entertainment culture where most on-screen couples become sexually intimate almost immediately.

In the last few weeks, two versions make the song very creepy. One was on Saturday Night Live, with Kenan Thompson playing Bill Cosby, spiking Tina Fey’s drink. The other was on Funny Or Die with Scott Aukerman eventually tying Casey Wilson to a chair with duct tape, though she escapes and brains him with a fireplace shovel.

Are the lyrics actually creepy? Not to my mind, but they are open to criticism, starting with the first word. In one of the last lines of David Mamet’s case study of gender power dynamics, Oleanna, newly blossomed Carol hears her former prof on the phone with his wife, and directs him, “… don’t call her ‘Baby’.”

Clearly there is a persuader, the wolf, and a persuadee, the mouse, and the degree of persuasion is the object of contention. Yet another parody site has a supposedly ‘feminist-approved’ version of the song where she sings, “I really can’t stay,” and he says, “It’s totally fine. I’ll call you a cab.” But, “faint heart ne’er won fair maiden,” and a lot of what goes on between couples is delicate negotiation, often likened to a dance. I sang, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight to a girl once, and it worked out fairly well that night. But not in the long run.

One line of Cold Outside that always bothered me was, “What’s the sense of hurting my pride?” That makes it seem like the wolf is just counting coup.

I really can’t stay – Baby it’s cold outside
I’ve got to go away – Baby it’s cold outside
This evening has been – Been hoping that you’d drop in
So very nice – I’ll hold your hands, they’re just like ice
My mother will start to worry – Beautiful, what’s your hurry
My father will be pacing the floor – Listen to the fireplace roar
So really I’d better scurry – Beautiful, please don’t hurry
Well Maybe just a half a drink more – Put some records on while I pour

The neighbors might think – Baby, it’s bad out there
Say, what’s in this drink – No cabs to be had out there
I wish I knew how – Your eyes are like starlight now
To break this spell – I’ll take your hat, your hair looks swell
I ought to say no, no, no, sir – Mind if I move a little closer
At least I’m gonna say that I tried – What’s the sense in hurting my pride
I really can’t stay – Baby don’t hold out
Ahh, but it’s cold outside

C’mon baby

I simply must go – Baby, it’s cold outside
The answer is no – Ooh baby, it’s cold outside
This welcome has been – I’m lucky that you dropped in
So nice and warm — Look out the window at that storm
My sister will be suspicious – Man, your lips look so delicious
My brother will be there at the door – Waves upon a tropical shore
My maiden aunt’s mind is vicious – Gosh your lips look delicious
Well maybe just a cigarette more – Never such a blizzard before

I’ve got to get home – Oh, baby, you’ll freeze out there
Say, lend me your coat – It’s up to your knees out there
You’ve really been grand – Your eyes are like starlight now
But don’t you see – How can you do this thing to me
There’s bound to be talk tomorrow – Making my life long sorrow
At least there will be plenty implied – If you caught pneumonia and died
I really can’t stay – Get over that old out
Ahh, but it’s cold outside

Baby it’s cold outside

Brr it’s cold…
It’s cold out there
Can’t you stay awhile longer baby
Well… I really shouldn’t… Alright

Make it worth your while baby
Ahh, do that again…

Cheap Oil a Mixed Blessing

In his article, With Oil at $36/barrel, Have Democrats just Won the Presidency?, Juan Cole offers a fairly sound discussion of the oil price situation:

The price of petroleum fell Monday to levels not seen since the crash of 2008, at one point hitting $35 a barrel in New York.

There is every reason to expect prices to remain low for a few years, and they could easily go lower as Iranian crude comes back on the market with the end of UN sanctions early next year.

One question here is whether low gasoline prices help the Democratic nominee?

What Cole certainly knows, but doesn’t get into, is that while they might be good news for Bernie or Hillary, and for pickup truck dealers, low gasoline prices represent mixed news for the climate. On the one hand, low prices means low demand, which should mean less burning of oil in vehicles. On the other, the remainder of the prosperous middle class will have little incentive to drive less or drive more efficient vehicles.

The middle class both consumes and pollutes at a greater rate than the poorer classes. Despite the many articles about the shrinking of the American middle class, there are still enough of us to release a great deal of carbon.