A Minnesota couple has re-worked the lyrics of “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” stripping away its suggestions of rape and assault and creating “a less sexually aggressive” version of the holiday classic.
According to CNN and via the Huffington Post, singer-songwriters Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski re-wrote the song to “emphasize the importance of consent.” Originally written in 1944 and established for decades as a co-ed holiday standard, Frank Loesser’s lyrics feature lines like “What’s in this drink?”, spoken by the woman as her male counterpart attempts to prevent her from leaving the scene.
Among the new lines spoken and sung by Lemanski include him telling Liza “Baby, I’m fine with that” when she suggests she might go. When Liza sings, “I ought to say no, no, no,” Lemanksi counters with “You reserve the right to say no.”
Listen to it below. For what it’s worth, the new version also features references to La Croix and the Cheesecake Factory.