Should Controversial Holiday Songs be Revised?

The holidays are a time of joy for some, while others think we should revisit popular traditions. Source: Flickr, Michael Curi

Christmas and other classic holiday songs are always a heartwarming reminder that the holiday season is upon us, yet some songs do not bring everyone the same feelings of warmth and cheer in current times. There is an ongoing debate as to whether some songs need to have their lyrics modernized, in light of recent movements such as #MeToo. The main song in question is the 1950s “Baby It’s Cold Outside” by Frank Loesser, bringing up questions of consent and sexual assault.

The holiday classic consists of the back-and-forth of a male singer attempting to persuade

a woman into spending the night with him, and a female singer fending off his advances, but after much persuasion, the woman finally relents and agrees to spend the night.

The #MeToo movement focused on spreading awareness of sexual assault, and utilizes the

now-famous chant “No Means No.” The entire back-and-forth of the song contradicts with this

message and in light of this, two current artists, Kelly Clarkson and John Legend produced a modernized cover of the song in 2019, which lead to complaints that the songs do not need to be altered and that people are just looking too far into the meaning of the lyrics without accounting for the time it was written.

The 1950s – when this song was released to the public – was a significantly different time

socially and culturally as compared to the 2020s. The notion of sexuality and relationships was vastly different, with many people in the 1950s marrying the first person they dated because it was what was expected at the time. The norms of the 1950s are different and the songs and artwork of that time reflect that, and as a marker of our culture, they should remain unchanged.

The evolution of a culture within a country is seen by comparing what has been produced in the past with what continues to emerge through things like art, science and music. If we are to overwrite history and choose to hide what we now deem as socially unacceptable then we would only stifle our growth as a people. Accepting the mistakes of our past and improving from them is what shows genuine growth, whereas hiding mistakes does not result in any growth.

The holiday classics are relics of our past. For some, they represent a familial warmth, and

for others, they show a dark look into our cultural past. Whatever an individual's opinion is of

the songs and other mementos of our history is, we must keep them how they are to learn from them and to know that we are capable of doing better in the present.