BABY IT’S COLD OUTSIDE

Arranged by Andy Carvill

Sung by Susie Drage and Barry Cowles

 

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I really can't stay - Baby it's cold outside

I've got to go away - But, baby it's cold outside

This evening has been - Been hoping that you'd drop in

So very nice - I'll hold your hands, they're just like ice

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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 hurry

Well, maybe just a half a drink more - Put some music on while I pour

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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 this spell - I'll take your hat, your hair looks swell

 

I ought to say no, no, no, sir - Mind if I move a little closer

At least I'm gonna say that I tried - What's the sense in hurting my pride

I really can't stay - Baby don't hold out

Baby it's cold outside. (go down)

 

Music interlude

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I simply must go - Baby it's cold outside

The answer is no - Baby it's cold outside

This welcome has been - I'm lucky that you dropped in

So nice and warm - Look out the window at that storm

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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

Well maybe just a cigarette more - Never such a blizzard before

 

I've get to go home - Oh baby you'll freeze out there

Say, lend me your coat - It's up to your knees out there

You've really been grand - I thrill 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 - Think of my life long sorrow

At least there will be plenty implied - If you caught pneumonia and died

I really can't stay - Get over that old out

Baby it's cold…..  go down

Baby it's cold outside….

 

 

This fabulous jazzy Big Band track was arranged by Andy Carvill .  Barry Cowles, who heads up Yamaha Keyboard Club duetted with me to create this fun song based on the Rod Stewart and Dolly Parton version.    This was mixed and mastered by Tom Doughty, Studio Principal and Partner of  NeverEverMedia Studios.   

My huge thanks to this wonderful team - this song was launched 13th December 2022

 

"Baby, It's Cold Outside" is a popular song written by Frank Loesser in 1944 and popularized in the 1949 film Neptune's Daughter. While the lyrics make no mention of a holiday, it is commonly regarded as a Christmas song owing to its winter theme. The song was released in eight recordings in 1949 and has been covered numerous times since.

 

During the 1940s, whenever Hollywood celebrities with vocal talents attended parties, they were expected to perform songs. In 1944, Loesser wrote "Baby, It's Cold Outside" to sing with his wife, Lynn Garland, at their housewarming party in New York City at the Navarro Hotel. They sang the song to indicate to guests that it was time to leave.   Garland has written that after the first performance, "We became 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.”   In 1948, after years of performing the song, Loesser sold it to MGM for the 1949 romantic comedy Neptune's Daughter. Garland was furious: "I felt as betrayed as if I'd caught him in bed with another woman."

According to Esther Williams, the producers of Neptune's Daughter had planned to use a different Loesser song, "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China", but studio censors thought it was too suggestive and replaced it with "Baby."

The song won the 1950 Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Lyrics

The song is a call and response duet between two people, a host (called "Wolf" in the score, usually performed by a male singer) and a guest (called "Mouse", usually performed by a female). Every line in the song features a statement from the guest followed by a response from the host. The lyrics consist of the host trying to convince the guest that she should stay for a romantic evening because he fears her getting too cold outside, despite the fact that she feels she should return home to her concerned family and neighbors.    In the film Neptune's Daughter, the song is first performed by Ricardo Montalbán and Esther Williams, then with a comic parody twist by Betty Garrett and Red Skelton: this time the man wants to leave and the woman wants him to stay.

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