The Oppenheimer Report 12/10/18

There was much discussion last week about a popular Christmas song Baby It’s Cold Outside. For any of you out of the loop, the song, written in 1944 by Frank Loesser, gained widespread popularity when it appeared in the movie Neptune’s Daughter in 1949. It has been a Christmas classic for well over half a century, but it has recently come under fire because some think it portrays a man incarcerating a woman and plying her with alcohol with the intention of having sex with her. I weighed in on Facebook last week, and clearly this song has sparked some controversy. One woman, for whom I have great respect as the director of an organization which works with abused women, felt that it was “tacky” to play a song which made light of the idea that “no means NO”. While she was not suggesting the song be banned, she felt it opened a wound, with so many women coming forward in the past year about their personal stories of sexual abuse. The MeToo movement has really shaken the fabric of our society, and I for one am happy this abusive behavior is finally being exposed. I spoke about Loesser’s song on my Lyrical Workers show, a show about songwriting, and I approach this controversy from a different angle.

Someone who responded to my Facebook post sent me a link to a re-written version of the Loesser song, with more politically correct lyrics. The whole tone of the song was changed. I can’t speak for Frank Loesser, but as a songwriter, I would be upset if someone did that to one of my songs. In my opinion, the original song is a cheeky poke at the boundaries of another era, and it stands as a somewhat anachronistic example of the mores of the time. In my opinion it is a beautifully crafted, clever, well-written song. I read somewhere that Loesser wrote the song to sing with his wife at a housewarming party in NYC, and it was instantly a hit. Five years later, it became much more widely exposed when Loesser sold it to MGM. I read that Frank Loesser’s daughter Sue felt the song became controversial when it was used cynically to spoof disgraced sexual predator Bill Cosby in the cartoon comedy show South Park. The song is from another era and should not be judged by today’s sometimes ambiguous standards of decency. It has remained a popular song for over 70 years, and while it may seem inappropriate to some, I don’t think it crosses any lines, especially by today’s standards.

I’ve written a lot of songs over the years that, were they ever to become popular, might offend people. Someone in our community took exception to Mr. Softee Man because it’s about selling drugs to kids. While there is little likelihood that Mr. Softee Man will ever reach a mainstream audience, I am not condoning the bad behavior about which I speak. I wrote the song to reflect an actual news story. The band Foster The People had a big hit with the song Pumped Up Kicks, which is really about gun violence. As offensive as these songs may be, it is up to the public to determine if they have value as art. Freedom of expression presupposes that we can pick and present our art, no matter how offensive it may seem. Over time I have changed my point of view as a songwriter, but one of the things I value about my songs is that each one represents a point in my life. I don’t want anybody changing that, and I think it is a slippery slope when we sanitize or censor art. Individuals may choose to ignore what offends them, and I am not suggesting that all lyrics are ok to air in public, but I also think it is wrong to censor that which might offend. Baby It’s Cold Outside was and is a popular song, and I don’t think it is hateful or mean-spirited. Regardless of my opinion about the meaning of the song, I suggest we let the public decide what they choose to hear. What is it they say about the best intentions?       

- Written by Jamie Oppenheimer c 2018 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED