The wintry duet "Baby, It's Cold Outside" has long been recognized as an anthem for sexual coercion. Originally featured in the film Neptune's Daughter, the song details a conversation between lovers in which the male insists — like, insists — that the woman stay a little longer. It's cold outside, babe! Stay here with me and let me force myself upon you! Cheery tune, no? The song is desperately in need of an update, and Lydia Liza, a musician from Minneapolis, has gifted us with a respectful version, reports Stylist.
Liza describes the song as a "less sexually aggressive" take on "Baby, It's Cold Outside." The lyrics read as a polite exchange between beau and bae. For starters, when the female part (vocals provided by Liza) opens with, "I really can't stay," the response (sung by Josiah Lemanski) is: "Baby, I'm fine with that."
And that's exactly how that conversation should go. Throughout Liza's version, which features just the two vocalists and an acoustic guitar, the lovers discuss the weather, La Croix, and whether she should go out the back door or the front door. (It kind of proves that in a world where lovers respect each other, leaving at the end of the night is rather banal. Without the tug-and-pull stuff, it's just your average exit.)
"The neighbors might think," she sings.
"...that you're a real nice girl," he adds.
"Say, what's in this drink?"
"Pomegranate La Croix."
Liza isn't the first to parody the holiday favorite. Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele penned a version called "Just Stay For The Night" that upped the creepy factor for humor's sake (the song finishes: "Bitch, you are mine tonight.") Similarly, Jimmy Fallon and Cecily Strong performed a version on Saturday Night Live in which the male practically begs the girl to go after you-know-what has occurred ("But you said it was cold outside!" she exclaims.)
It should be said that Liza's version is definitely the most listenable — see for yourself, below. It's both an anthem of love and respect and — bonus — a dope winter listen. Now, go traipse through the snow and exercise your right to autonomy.
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