Filth Flarn Filth (*tongue-in-cheek warning*)
by Tom on Nov.30, 2005, under Uncategorized
Two years ago I wrote a post about the “wholesome” Christmas song I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus, revealing it for what it was - a deeply disturbing song about infidelity.
After careful consideration, I’ve discovered it’s not the worst Christmas song out there. That would be the classic Baby, It’s Cold Outside. Not technically a “Christmas” song - Baby’s premise is simple - a male/female duet with the male trying to convince the female to stay longer at his place of residence. Originally recorded by Margaret Whiting & Johnny Mercer back in 1949 for the movie “Neptune’s Daughter”, it’s one of those songs that no one actually knows the lyrics to, but the title is often quoted as a part of popular culture.
In the song, the woman is trying to leave, but the man insists that she stay longer because of the (apparently) frigid conditions outside. While the woman seems to think that he only means for a short period of time, the man’s “reasoning” is flawed - the temperature isn’t going to get any warmer as the night progresses. The man knows this though. He wants her to spend the night, and potentially much more.
Not only that, but he’s slowly liquoring her up. “Well maybe just a half a drink more” she relents as he says “put some music on while I pour.” However, just a few lines later, she asks “say, what’s in this drink?” Just alcohol? Or maybe something more? She later goes on to imply that she can’t resist his advances, especially after taking the drink. “I wish I knew how/To break this spell/I ought to say no, no, no, sir/At least I’m gonna say that I tried.” From that last line, we can see that she’s giving in, despite constant resistance, and possibly under chemical influence.
A bit progressive for 1949, eh?
December 22nd, 2006 on 4:45 pm
[...] From time to time, I tend to write about Christmas music on this site, mainly because I enjoy the stuff (in moderation) and because it’s an interesting phenomenon. While music trends tend to go all over the place, with styles constantly changing and tastes bouncing to whatever the latest song in rotation is, Christmas music remains unchanged. Every year, currentish artists release Christmas albums (usually somewhat established - new releases this year from James Taylor, Sarah McLachlan, Bette Midler, Wynonna, and Rachael Ray… WHA?) that are usually well received but break no new ground (Ray’s is a joke, obviously. The album has her name on it but is a collection of songs by other artists that were selected by Rachael, I guess. Her site kind of sucks.) Newer artists put out more “current” Christmas music, usually either changing regular Christmas music into their particular style or occasionally putting out an attempt at a new song, usually keeping it vague enough as to not really mention Christmas or even “holiday” that much so that the song can stay in rotation more than one month of the year. [...]