via CBC
Even though I'm a younger adult, I remember this song still being all the rage in high school during the holidays. Hell, there were one or two times me and a friend would break out into a mini-duet to sing some of the lines, at least the ones I remember. It somehow only hit me years later how downright creepy the connotations actually were, and this was even much before the Me Too movement. It wasn't just me in my social circle either -- anytime the song gets brought up among us, a collective self-cringe usually follows.
EDIT: There's actually some pretty enlightening posts about the song's context in this thread that never occurred to me til now, surprisingly. I think it just goes to show that I really should pay more attention to what's behind holiday music like every other song instead of disregarding them like seasonal comfort food (even if for the most part, they are).
CBC said Tuesday it will join at least two other broadcasters in the country, Rogers Media and Bell Media, who have pulled the controversial holiday favourite out of their rotations this year. That comes as the duet, written back in 1944, faces renewed scrutiny over what some say are inappropriate lyrics in the wake of the #MeToo movement.
Earlier this week, Cleveland radio station WDOK-FM announced it stopped playing the song in response to listener feedback. Some people took issue with lyrics where one singer is trying to persuade the other to stay inside, with exchanges that include, "What's in this drink?" and "Baby, don't hold out."
Bell Media spokesperson Scott Henderson said the company, which runs two 24-hour Christmas stations in Vancouver and Ottawa, didn't include the Christmas tune on its playlists this year. But it also told stations it doesn't plan to reintroduce the song in the future.
CBC public affairs head Chuck Thompson said CBC Music will be pulling the song from its rotation as of midnight.
"Song lyrics are always open to interpretation, and we fully acknowledge there are two camps regarding this issue," he said. "While we consider both points of view, and in light of the times we are living in, we have chosen to remove the song, for the time being, from two of our holiday music streams."
Rogers runs a number of all-Christmas music stations, including 98.1 CHFI-FM in Toronto and 98.5 CIOC-FM in Victoria. Spokesperson Caitlin Decarie says the broadcaster also removed the song this year, but declined to outline how it reached the decision.
Even though I'm a younger adult, I remember this song still being all the rage in high school during the holidays. Hell, there were one or two times me and a friend would break out into a mini-duet to sing some of the lines, at least the ones I remember. It somehow only hit me years later how downright creepy the connotations actually were, and this was even much before the Me Too movement. It wasn't just me in my social circle either -- anytime the song gets brought up among us, a collective self-cringe usually follows.
EDIT: There's actually some pretty enlightening posts about the song's context in this thread that never occurred to me til now, surprisingly. I think it just goes to show that I really should pay more attention to what's behind holiday music like every other song instead of disregarding them like seasonal comfort food (even if for the most part, they are).
Last edited: