By Bel Kelly
Elm Staff Writer
In myriad ways, Christmas is a celebration married to tradition. Year after year, the paraphernalia remains recognizably the same: the wine stays mulled, the tree keeps its star, and Santa never changes out of his regular red-and-white uniform.
On a societal level, people seem particularly resistant to change when it comes to the holiday season. In recent years, this has manifested in annual debates surrounding alterations to the canonical Christmas playlist.
“Fairytale of New York” by The Pogues is one such example of a classic holiday hit that has come under fire for its gendered and homophobic slurs. While the words used have, in some ways, been reclaimed with time, their use in the song is intentionally abusive.
Subsequently, a censored version of the song has been popularized that removes the song’s original offensive lyrics.
This redaction “destroys the song by deflating its right at its essential and most reckless moment, stripping it of its value,” musician Nick Cave said on The Red Hand Files.
However, the “right” of the song to its original wording should not take precedence over the right of radio listeners to comfort and safety from oppressive words.
“[The songwriter] wasn’t writing a homophobic ditty… but if it’s being played in a setting where it might be taken out of context and harm people in any way, then it’s fair enough that the word’s substituted or bleeped. We don’t have a problem with that,” founding member Jem Finer of The Pogues said in an interview with NME.
The point of Christmas, outside of its religious functions, is for people to come together all over the world in thanks and celebration. Slurs are not conducive to such aims.
“Fairytale of New York” may remain a holiday favorite, but its censorship is wholly reasonable and necessary.
A similar issue occurs with the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” written in 1944 by Frank Loesser and popularized by the 1949 film “Neptune’s Daughter.” The song’s lyrics include a call-and-response wherein a couple debate spending the night together, which has been criticized as sexually coercive.
According to Time Magazine, “In the #MeToo era, a song about a man pressuring a woman to stay with him isn’t seen as so cheery by some.” But is “Baby It’s Cold Outside” a song about a man pressuring a woman?
Gender roles are not identified in the lyrics themselves. In “Neptune’s Daughter,” the song is performed twice by two couples, with the different parts sung by both genders.
Moreover, the song can be interpreted by listeners as empowering for women. Both singing parts express some desire to stay together, but one part seems far more concerned with what their family, friends, and neighbors might say if they knew.
According to writer Helen Rosner, it is a song about “a sexually aware woman worried about slut shaming,” a meaningful context to consider as the song was written during a period in which unmarried couples were not socially permitted to be alone together overnight.
While the song might not have initially aimed to be suggestive of sexual harassment, it is legitimate to criticize its ambiguous depiction of consent. Consent must be, in real life as well as in fiction, unambiguous and affirmative.
One of the many goals of the #MeToo movement is to raise awareness against rape culture; its ongoing projects dismissal media that perpetuates such a culture.
If certain radio stations or family homes decide to delete “Baby It’s Cold Outside” from their Christmas music playlist, that is a fair action with the honorable goal of creating a safer and more comfortable environment for holiday celebrations.
For the listener who looks for fun but inoffensive holiday music, Sabrina Carpenter’s 2023 EP “fruitcake” is certainly sexually empowering in a less problematic manner.
In addition, audiences have indie musician Phoebe Bridgers’ yearly holiday cover to look forward to. Over the last seven years, Bridgers has released a slew of innocuous wintry singles, such as her Emily Dickinson-inspired “So Much Wine” from 2022 and the political Fiona Apple duet “7 O’Clock News / Silent Night” from 2019.
Above all, Christmas should be a time of joy, acceptance, and inclusion. These basic tenets should not be undermined for convenience or principle.
If someone should find themselves in charge of the playlist for a Christmas shindig, consider who might be listening. Santa always is, at least. Do not put yourself on the naughty list.
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
Photo Caption: Christmas and holiday music has a controversial past.