Baby It's Cold Outside, a hot holiday song

Billboard Magazine recently came out with a list of 100 Hot Holiday Songs. It is quite an eye-opener although I would much rather call it the 100 Hot Holiday Recordings. Like if you say Christmas songs, you cannot really beat the traditional Silent Night in terms of message, structure and audience impact. It has been affecting people every December all over the world for over a hundred years. Or maybe I should cite David Foster’s Grown Up Christmas List as a Hot Holiday Song of the Pop era.

But a recording is entirely something else. Remember how Christina Aguilera made a dance tune out of The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire), totally out of the box, or how Elvis Presley made a beloved standard out of the country ballad Blue Christmas, that recording just grew and grew on everybody over the years. In those cases, not only the song but also the arrangement and artist performance also come to fore. The same goes for O Holy Night. It is as old or maybe older than Silent Night but Celine Dion’s recording made a pop tune of the French carol.

Most interesting both as a holiday song and a recording is Baby It’s Cold Outside. It is not a Christmas song. The only connection that Baby It’s Cold Outside has with Christmas is that it talks about a cold winter night. Composed by Frank Loesser, it is a duet between a wolf trying to convince a girl to stay the night because it is cold outside. I really can’t stay (Baby it’s cold outside)/ I’ve got to go ‘way (Baby it’s cold outside)/ The evening has been (I’ve been hopin’ that you’d drop in)/ So very nice (I’ll hold your hand, they’re just like ice)……….

It has no inspirational message and says nothing about peace and goodwill but it is one of the most played songs of the Season and it keeps popping up in Christmas albums by all sorts of artists. I have heard solo versions by Dean Martin, Robert Palmer and Michael Bublé. Willie Nelson and Norah Jones sang it together. So did Barry Manilow and K.T. Oslin, Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart. Bette Midler and James Caan sang it in For The Boys and the surprise duet of Ella Fitzgerald and French actor Louis Jourdan was a hit. I read that a version by poet Rod McKuen and Petula Clark also exists. I would love to hear that one.

Baby It’s Cold Outside was first heard in the movie Neptune’s Daughter where it was performed by Ester Williams and Ricardo Montalban and Red Skelton and Betty Garrett in 1948 and it was named Best Song at the Academy Awards a year later. Admittedly, I have always been fascinated by the song. It is so cleverly written and the interplay between the two singers has both humor and sophistication.

I have a feeling it will acquire more fans now that it has invaded gay territory. Baby It’s Cold Outside is included in The Glee Christmas Album, which is one of this year’s best holiday releases. It is sung by Chris Colfer as Kurt and Darren Criss as Blaine. The version is pretty straightforward but the fact that Colfer plays a gay character singing the part of a girl and he is attracted to Blaine in the show, makes the 62-year-old song fresh and exciting.

Two versions of Baby It’s Cold Outside made the Billboard Holiday list. The one by Dean Martin and Martina McBride at No. 57 and the other by Lady Antebellum at No. 68. I do not have the space to list down the 100 Hot Holiday songs or hot holiday recordings as listed by Billboard. I will do with 10, then perhaps you can check out the website for the rest.

All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey; Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree by Brenda Lee; Christmas Eve/Sarajevo by Trans-Siberian Orchestra; Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms; Feliz Navidad by Jose Feliciano; Holly Jolly Christmas by Burl ives; The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole; White Christmas by Bing Crosby; Last Christmas by Wham!; It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year by Andy Williams.

Christmas Canon by Trans-Siberian Orchestra; The Christmas Shoes by New Song; Happy X-Mas (War Is Over) by John Lennon; Where Are You Christmas? by Faith Hill; Last Christmas, the version by Taylor Swift; Santa Claus Is Coming To Town by Bruce Springsteen; Wonderful Christmas Time by Paul McCartney; Blue Christmas by Elvis Presley; Please Come Home For Christmas by the Eagles; and Last Christmas again. This time around it is the version from Glee by the cast of the TV show.

It is indeed the most wonderful time of the year more so when you have beautiful songs to enjoy Christmas with. I know it has been said many times and many ways, but I will say it again, Merry Christmas to you.