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"Baby It's Cold Outside" Lyrics

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(baby,baby,baby its cold)
I really cant stay
(but baby its cold outside)
I've got to go away
(but baby its cold outside)
this evening has been...
(been hopin' that you'd drop in)
so very nice
(I'll hold your hands they're just like ice)

my mother will start to worry!
(beautiful whats your hurry?)
and father will be pacing the floor
(just look at the fireplace roar)
so really i'd better scurry!
(beautiful please dont hurry)
well maybe just a half a drink more
(puts some records on while i pour)

the neighbors might think
(baby its bad out there)
oh..say.. whats 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 outta say NO! NO! NO! sir
(mind if i move in close?)
at least im gonna say that i tried!
(whats the sense of hurtin my pride?)
i really cant stay
(baby dont hold out)

*both: baby its cold outside*

i simply must go
(but baby its cold outside)
the answer is no
(but baby its cold outside)
this welcome has been
(how lucky that you dropped in)
so nice and warm
(look out that window at that storm!!)

my sister will be suspicous!
(gosh your lips look delicous!)
my brother will be there at the door!
(waves upon a tropical shore!)
my maidin aunts mind is vicious
(gosh your lips are delicous)
oh..maybe just a cigarette more
(never such a blizzard before)

I've got to get home!
(but baby you'd freeze out there!)
Well lend me a coat?
(its up to your knees out there)
you've really been grand!
(i frill when you hold my hand)
but dont you see?
(how can you do this thing to me?)

there's bound to be talk tomorrow
(think of my life long sorrow!)
at least there will be plenty implied!
(if you caught pneumonia and died!!)
i really cant stay!
(get over that hold out)

*both*
Baby its cold.....outside!!
(repeat above line)
song info:
Verified yes
LanguageEnglish
Genre
Rank
Duration00:04:07
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Copyright ©
Writer
Lyrics licensed byLyricFind
Added
Last updatedMarch 5th, 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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