baby, it's cold outside, but you got to go...
A radio station has banned "baby, it's cold outside..."
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/30/radio-station-bans-baby-its-cold-outside-after-metoo-protest-over-predatory-lyrics-8195746/
Now, I have joked about this song in a past blog,
https://pathfindere.blogspot.com/2016/12/sinfully-sexy-secular-christmas-songs.html
and generally make fun of it every year, for many of the same of the reasons that are addressed in the article above. I even made a 'Family Guy" flashback scene showcasing Quagmire's reminiscing about his favorite Christmas songs... Which was completely out of line, to write something suggesting Quagmire or the writers of Family Guy would do anything so outrageously with innuendoes,.
What's interesting to me, the most criminating line in the song, "Hey, what's in this drink..." is completely ignored in the write up. Though I have made fun of this song, and on many levels have suggested 'it's not right,' I have never called for it to be banned. I frequently wondered why it's a 'Christmas' song. Snow days and cold outside is not necessarily Christmas.
Nor do they talk about, if you really play the scene out, the people in the song probably knew that the weather was cold outside and likely to get worse and still went to the other's house, and lingered well beyond safety margins, and that song and dance had probably been going on for hours and we do need to talk about dual complicity and how we can all be more responsible and direct in our communication and interactions.
I have a proposal, instead of banning stuff we don't like, why don't we celebrate them and turn them into points of interest that generate conversation so we have public discourse. Banning songs is one step next to burning books. This is a good song. It's catchy. It's been around since what, the 1930s? Almost everyone reading this will likely have heard this song every year of their life at least once, and maybe even liked some of the many artist to redo this song.. Should those artist be punished? Not playing the song means your favorite artist isn't getting paid. So, you're not just attacking society, the majority of whom like this song, but your targeting specific people.
People do bad things. Some do some really horrid things, but also some good things. So, hypothetically, if you learn Louis Pasteur killed children, would you stop taking antibiotics on principal? I am not saying Pasteur was a bad guy. I don't know enough about him. I know enough about Edison to suggest maybe we should edit him out of the history books and give credit where it was do, like to Nikola Tesla, and a score of other staff people, but we're not turning off the lights just because. So, yeah, 'what's in this drink' sounds like a Cosby joke, but I wouldn't stop playing the Cosby show because it wasn't just about him. There were other fine actors and actresses and supporting staff and writers and directors and people who benefited from that show, maybe were inspired to become Doctors and Lawyers because of that show, and so, should we take that away?
Calling bad out is right. Pointing out how it is wrong is right. Seeing evidence in literature and music and art that what we watch and sing is a reflection of 'us' is right. Knowing where we came from and where we want to go is right. But if you kill the sign posts and all the evidence that brought us to where we are you guarantee we will just keep going around in circles and do this dance again, one more time... Yeah, baby, it's cold out side, and it's getting colder. Good luck out there.
https://metro.co.uk/2018/11/30/radio-station-bans-baby-its-cold-outside-after-metoo-protest-over-predatory-lyrics-8195746/
Now, I have joked about this song in a past blog,
https://pathfindere.blogspot.com/2016/12/sinfully-sexy-secular-christmas-songs.html
and generally make fun of it every year, for many of the same of the reasons that are addressed in the article above. I even made a 'Family Guy" flashback scene showcasing Quagmire's reminiscing about his favorite Christmas songs... Which was completely out of line, to write something suggesting Quagmire or the writers of Family Guy would do anything so outrageously with innuendoes,.
What's interesting to me, the most criminating line in the song, "Hey, what's in this drink..." is completely ignored in the write up. Though I have made fun of this song, and on many levels have suggested 'it's not right,' I have never called for it to be banned. I frequently wondered why it's a 'Christmas' song. Snow days and cold outside is not necessarily Christmas.
Nor do they talk about, if you really play the scene out, the people in the song probably knew that the weather was cold outside and likely to get worse and still went to the other's house, and lingered well beyond safety margins, and that song and dance had probably been going on for hours and we do need to talk about dual complicity and how we can all be more responsible and direct in our communication and interactions.
I have a proposal, instead of banning stuff we don't like, why don't we celebrate them and turn them into points of interest that generate conversation so we have public discourse. Banning songs is one step next to burning books. This is a good song. It's catchy. It's been around since what, the 1930s? Almost everyone reading this will likely have heard this song every year of their life at least once, and maybe even liked some of the many artist to redo this song.. Should those artist be punished? Not playing the song means your favorite artist isn't getting paid. So, you're not just attacking society, the majority of whom like this song, but your targeting specific people.
People do bad things. Some do some really horrid things, but also some good things. So, hypothetically, if you learn Louis Pasteur killed children, would you stop taking antibiotics on principal? I am not saying Pasteur was a bad guy. I don't know enough about him. I know enough about Edison to suggest maybe we should edit him out of the history books and give credit where it was do, like to Nikola Tesla, and a score of other staff people, but we're not turning off the lights just because. So, yeah, 'what's in this drink' sounds like a Cosby joke, but I wouldn't stop playing the Cosby show because it wasn't just about him. There were other fine actors and actresses and supporting staff and writers and directors and people who benefited from that show, maybe were inspired to become Doctors and Lawyers because of that show, and so, should we take that away?
Calling bad out is right. Pointing out how it is wrong is right. Seeing evidence in literature and music and art that what we watch and sing is a reflection of 'us' is right. Knowing where we came from and where we want to go is right. But if you kill the sign posts and all the evidence that brought us to where we are you guarantee we will just keep going around in circles and do this dance again, one more time... Yeah, baby, it's cold out side, and it's getting colder. Good luck out there.
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