To some “Baby, It’s Cold Outside," written in 1944 by Frank Loesser and originally recorded for the 1949 film Neptune’s Daughter, is a celebration of feminine sexuality. According to the song’s defenders, to depict a woman confident enough even to consider spending the evening in her fella’s arms in spite of her maiden aunt’s vicious mind and his gossip-loving, nosey neighbors in the late 1940s was to radically embrace a woman’s right to choose and should be given credit for as much.

Others see the song as a clear reflection of how “the fairer sex” was allowed to become colloquially referred to as the fairer sex and one of many vestiges of a social climate that consistently and dangerously excuses male sexual aggression as boyishly innocent while labeling a woman’s withholding of access to her body “coquettish” or “cute." (In the interest of transparency, this is the camp in which I’ve pitched my tent.)

Most, however, think that “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is just some song that department stores play from the day after Thanksgiving until the end of March to sell more of whatever people are buying each other for Christmas in department stores.

And that’s just a total bummer.

The bummer isn’t that those of us who care to find meaning in this song can’t agree on where to look for it, but that so many of those who’ve been forced or even personally moved to listen to “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” in coffee shops, supermarkets, shopping malls, sporting goods stores, Asian fusion restaurants, television commercials, radio ads, gas station parking lots, discount retail outlets, or your parent’s living room seem not to want to acknowledge that the song means anything at all.

It does, and we should all be trying to figure out what. So here is our contribution to that conversation: a cover of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” that (we hope) demonstrates how context colors art in ways that time can’t account for.

While contributing to the conversation makes us all feel better about living in our community and our country, we’d also like to contribute more tangibly to those organizations who so boldly defend the rights of American citizens in the face of impending uncertainty. We’d like to invite you to contribute with us. Each month, a donation will be made in the name of this group to Lancaster, PA’s Planned Parenthood office to acknowledge the valuable services they provide to victims of sexual assault such as counseling and access to emergency medical care (not to mention the good work they do with regards to not only women’s health, but sexual education and health at large). We will be taking donations through the Lancaster Philharmonic’s Bandcamp page, where our cover of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is now available to stream and download.

Thank you for sharing your time, thoughts, and maybe even your money with us and our community.

Love,
The Lancaster Philharmonic