One Cleveland radio station, WDOK Christmas 102.1, pulled the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” off the Christmas rotation because of the negative connotation of date rape suggested by the lyrics.

Among the positive feelings Christmastime brings, comes an air of controversy and womanizing. Because of the recent #MeToo movement, some people have deemed the song “Baby It’s Cold Outside”, to be a very uncomfortable song about a woman who doesn’t want to stay over at a man’s house during the holiday season.

Lyrics such as “beautiful, what’s your hurry”, and ”mind if I move in closer/what’s the sense in hurting my pride,” bring the feeling of a man exerting his power over a woman who is saying no, but being denied that right.

“I completely don’t agree with the original [song] because a girl deserves the right to leave when she wants to leave, a guy shouldn’t stop her,” said Sophomore Brenna Bowie. “I think the change in lyrics is great because people should know what should actually go on, and men shouldn’t force the woman into something they don’t want.”

In an interview with The Kansas City Star, afternoon host Glenn Anderson stated, “In a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, this song has no place”.

One of the most worrisome lines in the song is stated by the woman with a response from the male singer, “Say, what’s in this drink”? In the year 1944, the time this was written, this suggests a time of men asserting themselves in places not wanted by women, making advances that were inappropriate and not necessary.

But one singer is taking action against this song. Instead of completely taking the song out of rotation, singer Lydia Liza took the lyrics and changed the male parts, making them more appropriate for today’s sensitivity and thoughtfulness in society.

Lyrics changed from “I really can’t stay (baby it’s cold outside)/ I’ve got to go away (baby it’s cold outside)”, to “I really can’t stay (Baby I’m fine with that)/ I’ve got to go away (Baby I’m cool with that).” Many of the male lyrics now suggest the happiness of the man that he was able to spend time with the woman singer, but expresses his understanding that she would like to leave, and at one point even says, “You deserve the right to say no”, creating the air of consent and importance of letting women have their privacy and leave when they are ready to.

The song (Titled “Baby It’s Cold Outside [Consent]), was released in 2016 by singer-songwriters Lydia Liza and Josiah Lemanski. In an interview with NPR the year it was released, Liza stated, “It was meant to be playful, but all those lyrics just sit wrong with me – especially being from this generation.”

While many agree that the change in lyrics is needed and the song shouldn’t be completely taken off the radio, some other have another idea.

“If you  are going to change the song, you’re changing the meaning,” said Sophomore Wyatt Reid. “The meaning is different than what it is changed into, so the song should be removed altogether.”