baby, it's cold

There are two songs claiming to be Christmas songs that I detest. One of them is "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and the other we shall save for another Christmastime rant. I never liked that song even before all the controversial analyzation of it. There are people weighing in all over the place, so I can't stop thinking about it. Maybe if I write about it, I can set it on the shelf and forget about a song that has always grated on my nerves.

I've read a couple of articles bashing it and a couple of articles defending it by means of the cultural context of the sayings that are being railed against. None of the articles, however, address the issue with it not being a Christmas song in the least.

As soon as I could understand the words, I was like, Huh? How does messing around and pretending to be or actually becoming incoherently inebriated have anything to do with Christmas? Seriously, I don't get it. Maybe people do those things extra around Christmas? But the thing is it is not about Christmas.

The meaning of Christmas is about the celebration of Christ's birth and the many good things he exemplified in his life, so we can make our feeble attempts to be more like Him. To me, that's the essence of Christmas. Many people who aren't Christian even participate because of the goodwill and kindness that it provokes within our communities. Then some people might pose the flimsy argument about the pagan origins of some traditions, etc., but that's not what any Christian has celebrated at Christmastime in two or three hundred years. If what I do to celebrate Christ were meant for pagan motivations, I would stop doing them. So don't even start with me. My intent at Christmastime is entirely focused on showing love for my fellow man and to honor my God and His Son with more fervor.

Yes, the song about being cold outside, but that doesn't make it about Christmas. If we're going to cut to the chase, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is more like a song about two people giving in to temptation and making excuses for their behavior and blaming the weather instead of being honest about feelings or circumstances. All I can hope is that I don't have to switch the radio station as often because it's not coming on anymore.


No comments:

Post a Comment

Tell us your thoughts...