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"Baby, It's Cold Outside" Lyrics

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I really can't stay
(Baby, it's cold outside)
I've got to go away
(Baby, it's cold outside)
This evening has been
(Hoping that you'd drop in)
So very nice
(I'll hold your hands, they're cold as ice)

My mother will start to worry
(Beautiful, what's your hurry)
My father will be pacing the floor
(Listen to the fireplace roar)
So really, I'd better scurry
(Beautiful, please don't worry)
Maybe just one drink more
(Put some records on, while I pour)

The neighbors might think
(Baby, it's bad out there)
Say, what's in this drink
(No cabs to be had out there)
I wish I knew how
(Your eyes are like starlight now)
To break the spell
(I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell)

I say no, no, no sir
(Mind if I move in closer)
At least I'm gonna say that I tried
(What's the use of hurting my pride)
I really can't stay
(Baby, don't hold out)
Baby, it's cold outside

I really must go
(Baby, it's cold outside)
The answer is no
(Baby, it's cold outside)
The welcome has been
(Lucky that you dropped in)
So nice and warm
(Look out the window at that storm)

My sister will be suspicious
(Gosh, your lips look delicious)
My brother will be there at the door
(Waves upon a tropical shore)
My maiden aunt's mind is vicious
(Gosh, your lips are delicious)
Maybe just a half a drink more
(Never such a blizzard before)

I've got to get home
(Baby, you'll freeze out there)
Say, lend me a coat
(It's up to your knees out there)
You've really been grand
(I'm thrilled when you touch my hand)
But don't you see
(How can you do this thing to me)
There's bound to be talk tomorrow
(Just think about my lifelong sorrow)
At least there'll be plenty implied
(If you caught pneumonia and died)
I really can't stay
(Get over that hold out)
Baby, it's cold outside
song info:
Verified yes
LanguageEnglish
GenrePop, Soul
Rank
Duration00:02:48
Charts
Copyright ©
Writer
Lyrics licensed byLyricFind
AddedNovember 21st, 2004
Last updatedSeptember 13th, 2022
About"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a song written by Frank Loesser in 1944.[1] It is a call and response duet in which one of the singers (usually performed by a male voice) attempts to convince a guest (usually performed by a female voice) that they should stay together for a romantic evening because the weather is cold and the trip home would be difficult.

Originally recorded for the film Neptune's Daughter, it has been recorded by many artists since its original release, including Ray Charles, Dolly Parton and Michael Bublé.

Loesser wrote the duet in 1944 and premiered the song with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their Navarro Hotel in New York housewarming party, and performed it toward the end of the evening, signifying to guests that it was nearly time to end the party. Loesser would introduce himself as the "Evil of Two Loessers", a play on the theme of the song, trying to keep the girl from leaving, and on the phrase "lesser of two evils". This was a period when the Hollywood elite's chief entertainment was throwing parties and inviting guests who were expected to perform. Garland wrote that after the first performance, "We become instant parlor room stars. We got invited to all the best parties for years on the basis of 'Baby.' It was our ticket to caviar and truffles. Parties were built around our being the closing act." Garland considered it their song and was furious when Loesser told her he was selling the song. Garland wrote, "I felt as betrayed as if I'd caught him in bed with another woman."

The lyrics in this duet are designed to be heard as a conversation between two people, identified as "mouse" (usually female) and "wolf" (usually male) on the printed score; they have returned to the wolf's home after a date, and the mouse decides it is time to go home, but the wolf flirtatiously invites the mouse to stay as it is late and "it's cold outside." The mouse wants to stay and enjoy herself, but feels obligated to return home, worried what family and neighbors will think if she stays. Every line in the song features a statement from the mouse followed by a response from the wolf, which is musically known as a call and response song.

Although some critical analyses of the song have highlighted parts of the lyrics such as "What's in this drink?" and the wolf's unrelenting pressure to stay despite the mouse's repeated suggestions that she should go home, others noted that cultural expectations of the time period were such that women were not socially permitted to spend the night with a boyfriend or fiancé, and that the mouse states that she wants to stay, while "What's in this drink?" was a common idiom of the period used to rebuke social expectations by blaming one's actions on the influence of alcohol.

In 1948, after years of informally performing the song at various parties, Loesser sold the rights to MGM, which inserted the song into its 1949 motion picture, Neptune's Daughter. The film featured two performances of the song: one by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams and the other by Red Skelton and Betty Garrett, the second of which has the roles of wolf and mouse reversed. These performances earned Loesser an Academy Award for Best Original Song.

In at least one published version the tempo of the song is given as "Loesserando", a humorous reference to the composer's name.

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