Doctor Wombat
Legendary Pubber
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2019
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I'd agree, with the slight modification that it's not so much her friends, as the fact she's actively asking for help coming up with a cover story for what she wants to do. That would fit with when the song was written. In 1944 staying over with a man wouldn't have been socially acceptable, so it's a way of politely asking if he minds taking the blame for her.
Lines like " Well maybe just a half a drink more" and "At least I'm gonna say that I tried" don't suggest resistance to me.
"Baby, It's Cold Outside" was written in 1944, but didn't make its public debut until the movie Neptune's Daughter in 1949. Prior to that, the composer Frank Loesser sang it at parties with his wife as a signal to the guests that it was time to leave. I think we can safely assume he didn't intend to write a song about sexually assaulting his spouse.
In Neptune's Daughter, the song is sung by two different couples; Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams do it in what's become the typical style, while Betty Garrett and Red Skelton perform it with the usual male and female roles reversed:
The addition of visuals to the performances makes it robvious that neither Williams or Skelton are reluctant to stay. I mean, it's not even snowing outside.
(Which is not really surprising, since the movie's set in a fictional town in California and was filmed in Los Angeles and Florida, locations not exactly known for extreme cold or heavy snowfall. Esther Williams played a swimwear designer and like most of her movies, Neptune's Daughter featured a big swimming spectacle.)