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© 2018 AFPU.S. radio stations pull 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' in wake of #MeToo
By Jocelyne ZABLIT LOS ANGELES©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
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therougou
Idiotic.
Concerned Citizen
I little common sense should tell us not to take this song too seriously.
This is nothing compared to all the trash rappers and Hollywood are spewing out.
cla68
Thank you political correctness and social justice warriors!
Toasted Heretic
Bit vague, no? Every genre of music, film, etc has its dodgy moments.
I like the song in question, but on closer inspection, it can be interpeted in a slightly more sinister light.
The Beatles Run for Your Life probably is another one that's iffy. Check out the lyrics:
Well, I'd rather see you dead, little girl
Than to be with another man
You better keep your head, little girl
Or you won't know where I am
Ugh. And I say this as a fan of The Beatles, too. Sometimes artists get it wrong. Or sometimes stuff doesn't age too well.
beams
In that case, you may as well ban music. Going by this principle, Bohemian Rhapsody should be banned for 'sinister' lyrics about DV - "Mama, just killed a man".
Patricia Yarrow
Beautiful tune. Change the lyrics. Done.
Dango bong
don't people have jobs? Seriously much worse things to think about.
Toasted Heretic
There's a long history of attempting to silence musicians in the US. Look at NWA's "F--- the Police" which drew the ire of the FBI. And the controversy over Bodycount's "Cop Killer" which irked Tipper Gore and Bush Senior so much. That was hated so much that various law agencies tried to have the record withdrawn from commercial availability.
Before rap/hip-hop, rock & roll was seen as a negative influence on the wholesome youth of America and before that, it was jazz - which was denounced from the pulpit - and so on.
Anyway, this particular song hasn't actually been banned - it's just been pulled from playlists.
Deadforgood
Who cares, who listens to the radio nowadays anyways? What a waste of time by an unfocused movement.
Toasted Heretic
I listen to the wireless but I'm not going to panic if a song has been dropped from the playlist. Happens all the time, what's in vogue, what the station owners are promoting and what the audience demographic wants to hear. Besides, there's not too many '40s ditties doing the rounds on the radio these days, something which I've learned to live with ;-)
GW
This is getting beyond stupid!!
Speed
Well, I guess I'll be listening to "Baby It's Cold Outside" a hell of a lot more then!
smithinjapan
While some of the lyrics could most certainly be interpreted the way people are suggesting (in taking it off the air), show me a song that can't. I mean, "Jingle ALL THE WAY!"?? Isn't that suggestive? What about mommy seducing Santa while dad's sleeping upstairs? Hardly appropriate for kids and family, given how family values are these days. And isn't "snowMAN" sexist? Forget about rhythm and change it so "snowPERSON". And hey, I think we ought to get rid of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town," because the idea that he is watching me when I'm asleep, knows when I'm awake, and more, is very predatory and smacks of a man who stalks children.
That's just a few.
This song is a classic. People are just interpreting it very poorly. And if it's THAT bad, maybe change a couple of lyrics.
Toasted Heretic
Not really. As I pointed out above, it's just following a trend over decades. The arbiters of taste and common decency have always been wont to decide what's good for us and what's not, when it comes to popular music.
In the UK, back in '83 or '84, DJ (and latterly, UKIP supporter) Mike Read "banned" number one single "Relax" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Mike couldn't handle the lyrical content and stopped playing it. But the BBC relented and by the Xmas Day Top of the Pops special, it was performed on the show in all it's, er, subversive glory.
I don't much care for, say, Ted Nugent but I'd not be in favor of banning the man from the airwaves. Not that I'd hear much of his output in the first place, mind.
Deadforgood
Toasted Heretic
I guess I spoke too soon. I imagine the general public doesn't listen to the radio often though.
Political correctness is just another way of saying censorship. People want to censor all the problems because they think it makes them go away. I feel like that's proven again and again to be damaging to society and not very progressive towards empowering any movement.
Silencing people doesn't change society, and thinking the world is a nice and friendly place because people can't speak their minds is a dangerous and immature way to live.
Concerned Citizen
Toasted Heretic:
Here are a few samples of horrific rap stuff I was referring to. (from popular rap artists)
https://www.hotnewhiphop.com/top-15-most-disturbing-hip-hop-songs-news.39032.html
It's not hard for me to choose which I'd prefer to be not played over the radio.
Toasted Heretic
I can only speak for myself on the wireless issue. I've been an avid listener of radio for many years and if I don't like something, I either wait until its over or switch stations. I don't agree with some decisions and banning a track wouldn't be something I'd be in favor of. But if the radio station wants to drop it from the playlist, well, that's how it works. Living in the UK for what seems like an eternity, I was forced to listen to Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" every year around this time. It was soul destroying and any love I had for the song had pretty much evaporated on hearing it for the millionth time. Fortunately, that problem doesn't occur here in Japan :-)
Possibly. I think if someone (irl) keeps on saying something offensive to you and you tell them you find it offensive (context, bigotry etc) & they insist on continuing to use a certain term/epithet/expression... well, says more about them than you. The idea is to convince people that there are reasons why this language might not be ok in a modern context and so forth. The censorship issue is a very tricky issue. Do you stop a platform and drive the users underground? At least when dodgy radio hosts are visible, or rather, audible, one can keep track of them.
Overall, I'd say don't censor. You can always switch channels if you're not happy with the content. Same goes for those who moan about television/film with characters they don't like. Nobody is forcing you to watch or listen.
Toasted Heretic
Of course there's dodgy content there. Every genre, every art form has it. And I'm sure there's a market for it. But one cannot condone an entire genre, based on some unpleasant examples. Heck, I own Eminem and NWA records but I can be just as objective about them as The Beatles. Some output might be worth skipping to the next track, if you follow.
I like a lot of hardcore metal bands as well but there's some extremely dodgy purveyors of black/death metal out there that I'd not be wishing to give a spin on the turntable. I wouldn't be so facile as to say such stuff must be banned, though.
Matt Hartwell
Well, I guess I'll be listening to "Baby It's Cold Outside" a hell of a lot more then!
Plenty versions on Youtube. Even Jimmy Fallon lol awesome.
papigiulio
This is nothing compared to all the trash rappers and Hollywood are spewing out.
THIS! It is getting beyond ridiculous. Can we go back 20 years when everything was better. Jezus.
Toasted Heretic
My favorite version was the Tom Jones/Cerys Matthews Xmas effort some years back. Very much tongue-in-cheek and I didn't pick up any sinister vibes at the time.
Toasted Heretic
I always smile when I read such a comment. Every generation thinks their one was better. Music was real back then, they cry!
Ideas are riffed on, borrowed, stolen and paid hommage to. Always have been. Even classical composers did it. Checking out each others pieces (so to speak) inserting a reference or familiar motif here and there.
Many composers caused outrage back in the day. Lest we forget the crazed reception that Stravinsky's Rite of Spring got on it's debut...
And then there was Wagner. He has been copied and parodied so many times and let's not forget he was a raving anti-Semite but man, did he compose some majestic sounds. Wouldn't want to see performances of his banned, either.
Fouxdefa
Can't say I'd miss it that much, it's never been a favorite and what with the amount of covers done by popular singers, it gets in the shuffle on the Christmas stations way too often.
Shenjingbing
So it's ok to ban songs which might be INTERPRETED as predatory toward women, but these same BS Movements won't lift a finger against mainstream hip-hop/rap/r&b artists who plain as day use the term bitch/bitches, talk about women down on their knees, and other OBVIOUS discriminatory, sexist, misogynist and predatory terms/meanings. Got it, thanks ME TOO!
goldorak
Haha, am with you RM. Would add The Pogues & Kirsty MacColl's "Fairytale of New York" though. Best xmas song ever!
Sasoriza
An English teacher explains why this song is actually about young woman defying societal norms on Christmas, and empowerment.
https://www.boredpanda.com/baby-cold-outside-metoo-song-explanation/#post-comments-area
Concerned Citizen
I don't believe in the government censoring music or any other form of art or speech. But private radio stations and the public can refuse to play/listen to or ignore material they don't like or agree with.
In this case, I don't think this song is a big deal. As mentioned before, the trash some rappers and Hollywood studios produce can be much worse, even despicable. I would be happy to see that stuff ignored out of the market.
Kim Jong Unfollow
The #metoo backlash is happening on Wall St. and it's a matter of time before men start dating men only, and paid for sex. This toxic social experiment will not end well for women.
Toasted Heretic
So it's ok to ban songs which might be INTERPRETED as predatory toward
women, but these same BS Movements won't lift a finger against
mainstream hip-hop/rap/r&b artists who plain as day use the term
bitch/bitches, talk about women down on their knees, and other OBVIOUS
discriminatory, sexist, misogynist and predatory terms/meanings. Got it,
A few points to reconsider, one again. Nobody is banning anything. Nobody here is advocating bans. The song has being pulled from a handful of stations in the US.
The singling out from some here, over hiphop lyrical content has me a bit confused, though. There's plenty of misogyny, homophobia in rock & roll and other genres - that doesn't mean the whole genre is rotten, does it?
I get it, to an extent. You don't like the rappers, you don't think it's music, or that it's worthy - that's fine, nobody is forcing you to listen to it but whilst you rail against banning some stuff, you seem to want this section of music to be banned?
Toasted Heretic
The ever-present glitch in the system won't allow me to downvote, so am doing it by this post.
My reason being, it doesn't make much sense to me.
Toasted Heretic
A few points to reconsider, one again. Nobody is banning anything. Nobody here is advocating bans. The song has being pulled from a handful of stations in the US.
The singling out from some here, over hiphop lyrical content has me a bit confused, though. There's plenty of misogyny, homophobia in rock & roll and other genres - that doesn't mean the whole genre is rotten, does it?
I get it, to an extent. You don't like the rappers, you don't think it's music, or that it's worthy - that's fine, nobody is forcing you to listen to it but whilst you rail against banning some stuff, you seem to want this section of music to be banned?
Wc62six
The crip & blood rappers say far worse & filthier things about women ....... yet that flies. Ridiculous!
Toasted Heretic
On what stations, in particular? Stations that you listen to?