+
Sign up for
The Upworthiest
Our top stories of the day delivered straight to your inbox.
upworthy
Culture

John Legend and Kelly Clarkson's new version of 'Baby it's Cold Outside' will celebrate consent

John Legend and Kelly Clarkson's new version of 'Baby it's Cold Outside' will celebrate consent
Instagram / John Legend

The Christmas classic, "Baby, It's Cold Outside," is arguably more controversial than the "Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays" debate. Some say it's the musical embodiment of rape culture. In 2018, it was pulled by some radio stations. "[I]n a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place," said a DJ on Cleveland's WDOK, the first station to ban the song.

Others say the song is actually meant to be sexually empowering. The woman is actually fighting against society's expectations for woman, not the man who's trying to get her to stay. She wants to say yes, but feels that she has to say no.

Others, still, think it's not even a Holiday song and shouldn't be included on Christmas albums. Just because it's cold doesn't mean it's Christmas – or even December. It would work just as well on New Year's Eve.

Regardless of historical context, women have taken back their sexual power, which includes the right to say no – to both society and potential sexual partners. And now we'll have a version of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" to reflect that. John Legend is updating the song for 2019 by replacing some of the more problematic lyrics with words that celebrate consent.

RELATED: John Legend nailed why calling MS-13 gang members 'animals' is a problem

Legend worked with "Insecure" actress Natasha Rothwell to update the lyrics for 2019. Legend sings the duet with Kelly Clarkson, and it will be included on an updated version of Legend's Christmas album, "A Legendary Christmas." The new lyrics will include lines like:

I really can't stay (Baby, it's cold outside)
I've gotta go away (I can call you a ride)
This evening has been (So glad that you dropped in)
So very nice (Time spent with you is paradise)
My mother will start to worry (I'll call a car and tell 'em to hurry)

And:

What will my friends think... (I think they should rejoice)

...if I have one more drink? (It's your body, and your choice)

We'll have to wait until November 8th to hear it, but Legend previewed the song with Vanity Fair. "The song's every bit as fun and swinging as the original, and its newfound sensitivity feels genuine, not performative," writes Vanity Fair.

RELATED: The money bail industry harms the most vulnerable. John Legend wants to end it now.

The song was written in 1944 by songwriter Frank Loesser and his wife, Lynn Garland, to sing at parties. Loesser was also behind "Heart and Soul," "Guys and Dolls," and "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." He sold "Baby, It's Cold Outside" to MGM, enraging his wife. "I felt as betrayed as if I'd caught him in bed with another woman," Garland said. So yes, the song really does have consent issues.

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" might have worked better in 1944, but it's hard to think of lines like, "Say, what's in this drink?" as cheeky fun when you've been fully warned about the dangers of rohypnol your whole life. Now, we'll have a version for all of the women who can flat out say "yes" or "no" as they please.

Related Articles Around the Web
Community

Facebook group brings people together IRL to make meaningful friendships

True

Making new friends as an adult is challenging. While people crave meaningful IRL connections, it can be hard to know where to find them. But thanks to one Facebook Group, meeting your new best friends is easier than ever.

Founded in 2018, NYC Brunch Squad brings together hundreds of people who come as strangers and leave as friends through its in-person events.

“Witnessing the transformative impact our community has on the lives of our members is truly remarkable. We provide the essential support and connections needed to thrive amid the city's chaos,” shares Liza Rubin, the group’s founder.

Despite its name, the group doesn’t just do brunch. They also have book clubs, seasonal parties, and picnics, among other activities.

NYC Brunch Squad curates up to 10 monthly events tailored to the specific interests of its members. Liza handles all the details, taking into account different budgets and event sizes – all people have to do is show up.

“We have members who met at our events and became friends and went on to embark on international journeys to celebrate birthdays together. We have had members get married with bridesmaids by their sides who were women they first connected with at our events. We’ve had members decide to live together and become roommates,” Liza says.

Members also bond over their passion for giving back to their community. The group has hosted many impact-driven events, including a “Picnic with Purpose” to create self-care packages for homeless shelters and recently participated in the #SquadSpreadsJoy challenge. Each day, the 100 members participating receive random acts of kindness to complete. They can also share their stories on the group page to earn extra points. The member with the most points at the end wins a free seat at the group's Friendsgiving event.

Keep ReadingShow less
friendship
Democracy

This Map Reveals The True Value Of $100 In Each State

Your purchasing power can swing by 30% from state to state.

Image by Tax Foundation.

Map represents the value of 100 dollars.

As the cost of living in large cities continues to rise, more and more people are realizing that the value of a dollar in the United States is a very relative concept. For decades, cost of living indices have sought to address and benchmark the inconsistencies in what money will buy, but they are often so specific as to prevent a holistic picture or the ability to "browse" the data based on geographic location.

The Tax Foundation addressed many of these shortcomings using the most recent (2015) Bureau of Economic Analysis data to provide a familiar map of the United States overlaid with the relative value of what $100 is "worth" in each state. Granted, going state-by-state still introduces a fair amount of "smoothing" into the process — $100 will go farther in Los Angeles than in Fresno, for instance — but it does provide insight into where the value lies.

Keep ReadingShow less
money
Family

Woman bakes cheeky curse word pies for her grandma and it becomes a quirky holiday tradition

2023's pie is an homage to her favorite word to use while stuck in traffic.

Canva

You never know where a holiday tradition will come from.

Tried-and-true holiday traditions certainly have their merit, but there’s something quite special, magical even, about discovering personal rituals that commemorate one’s unique life. In my household, for instance, nothing quite rings in the Christmas spirit like sipping my partner’s delicious coquito and putting up a cardboard gingerbread house for my cats.

The beauty of creating customized holiday traditions is that they can be as festive, sentimental, or as silly as you want them to be. And you never know how one small moment can become the catalyst for a tradition that sparks joy year after year.

For Jess Lydon, that tradition is baking expletive-laden pies for Thanksgiving. (This is your profanity warning—the images below contain swear words.)

Keep ReadingShow less
humor
Education

3,700-year-old Babylonian stone tablet gets translated, changes history

They were doing trigonometry 1500 years before the Greeks.

via UNSW

Dr. Daniel Mansfield and his team at the University of New South Wales in Australia have just made an incredible discovery. While studying a 3,700-year-old tablet from the ancient civilization of Babylon, they found evidence that the Babylonians were doing something astounding: trigonometry!

Most historians have credited the Greeks with creating the study of triangles' sides and angles, but this tablet presents indisputable evidence that the Babylonians were using the technique 1,500 years before the Greeks ever were.

Keep ReadingShow less
education
Pop Culture

Pianist uses every part of the instrument in this joyous performance of Toto's 'Africa'

"Not sure I can comprehend what just happened! Unbelievable."

via Peter Benace/YouTube

Peter Bence's piano cover of "Africa" by Toto

Peter Bence’s performance of “Africa” by Toto has over 17 million views on YouTube because of his creative reimagining of the song and, well, just about everyone loves “Africa.”

Bence is a Hungarian composer and producer who has become a viral sensation for his Michael Jackson, Queen, Sia, and Beatles covers. He has over 1.1 million followers on YouTube and has toured the globe, playing in more than 40 countries across four continents.

His performance of “Africa'' is unique because it opens with him creating a rhythm track and looping it by strategically tapping the piano and rubbing its strings to create the sound of shakers and congo drums.

Keep ReadingShow less
music
Joy

Family posts a very chill note to neighbors explaining why their dog is on the roof

“We appreciate your concern but please do not knock on our door.."

via Reddit

Meet Huckleberry the dog.

If you were taking a stroll through a quiet neighborhood and happened to catch a glance of this majestic sight, you might bat an eye. You might do a double take. If you were (somewhat understandably) concerned about this surprising roof-dog's welfare, you might even approach the homeowners to tell them, "Uh, I'm not sure if you know...but there's a...dog...on your ROOF."

Well, the family inside is aware that there's often a dog on their roof. It's their pet Golden, Huckleberry, and he just sorta likes it up there.

Keep ReadingShow less
dogs
Family

12 hilariously relatable comics about life as a new mom.

Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

All illustrations by Ingebritt ter Veld. Reprinted here with permission.

Some good not so good moments with babies.



Embarrassing stains on your T-shirt, sniffing someone's bum to check if they have pooped, the first time having sex post-giving birth — as a new mom, your life turns upside-down.

Illustrator Ingebritt ter Veld and Corinne de Vries, who works for Hippe-Birth Cards, a webshop for birth announcements, had babies shortly after one another.

Keep ReadingShow less
Trending Stories