Baby, It’s Cold Outside: 9 Songs to Warm Those Cold December Nights
The holiday season, for all its cold and snow, has inspired some of the richest and most heartwarming songs. The many winter tales and legends of Christmas and the different ways it’s celebrated have spawned a vast library of songs to choose from.
New Year’s Eve is also a fertile source of great songs that celebrate our hoped-for good fortunes for the coming year. So grab your Snuggie and hot toddy, and enjoy some of our favorite holiday and winter-themed songs to keep you warm when the weather’s cold.
1) “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark (1949)
Written in 1944 by musical-theater composer Frank Loesser (Guys and Dolls and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying among others), he and his wife Lynn Garland would perform this parlor song at parties to signal that the evening was coming to a close.
After years of private performances as a husband-and-wife duo, Loesser sold the song to MGM, much to his wife’s chagrin. It first premiered in the 1948 film Neptune’s Daughter and has been recorded by countless artists since. The Dinah Shore/Buddy Clark version charted for 19 weeks on the Billboard Best Seller chart, peaking at #4.
This song has run into its share of controversy over the decades with lines like, “Say, what’s in this drink?” contributing to the sense that a man is persuading a woman to stay at his home against her better judgment. Even the names of the vocal parts in the original score (the traditionally male part is “Wolf” and the traditionally female part is “Mouse”) underlie this suspicion.
Yet despite the controversy, the song continues to be a holiday favorite, with notable contemporary versions by Dolly Parton and Rod Stewart, Zooey Deschanel and Leon Redbone, and a gorgeous all-male duet from Darren Criss and Chris Colfer on the television show Glee.
2) “Run Rudolph Run,” Chuck Berry (1958)
Chuck Berry released his version of this Johnny Marks (“Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”) and Marvin Brodie-penned song in 1958. His quick-opening blues riff is reminiscent of “Johnny B. Goode,” and his playing and singing remain equally as raucous throughout.
The story is about a couple of kids telling Rudolph that they want an electric guitar and a doll for Christmas with Rudolph relaying the requests to Santa. It’s fast, fun, and gets everyone in the Christmas spirit.
3) “Santa Baby,” Eartha Kit (1953)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFMyF9fDKzE
“Santa Baby” was written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer, along with his brother Tony, and released in 1953 by RCA with respected dancer, film star, Broadway actress, and former Catwoman Eartha Kitt singing one of the sexiest Christmas songs ever recorded.
Her sultry voice fits this song perfectly — a coy woman asking Santa for all kinds of expensive gifts because she was “good” during the year. She has a plan and knows what she wants. An iconically fun song that’s great with a date or at a party.
4) “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” Brenda Lee (1958)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6xNuUEnh2g
Brenda Lee has sold more records than just about anybody and is truly one of America’s treasures. Her recordings have become standards, and she has been inducted into the rock ‘n’ roll, country, and rockabilly halls of fame. Despite her popularity, however, “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” didn’t sell well when it was released in 1958 and then again in ‘59, but it has since become one of the most played Christmas songs of all time.
Written by Johnny Marks (who also wrote “Run, Rudolph, Run” above), it’s a sprightly, rockabilly-like tune with Brenda’s mature-for-her-age voice just banging it out. Boots Randolph on sax, Buddy Harmon on drums, and Grady Martin’s guitar playing make it near perfect.
It was again released in 1960 and peaked at #14 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart and then peaked as high as #3 on Billboard’s Christmas Singles chart in December 1965. The tiny, 4’ 9” Lee was just 13 when she recorded it.
5) “This Christmas,” Donny Hathaway (1971)
Donny Hathaway was a soul/jazz/pop singer who’s best remembered for his duets with Roberta Flack. They recorded two albums together including the smash 1972 hit “Where Is the Love.” But there was much more to Hathaway than that.
Written by Hathaway and Nadine McKinnor in 1970, “This Christmas” didn’t make much of an impact at first. However, when Atco Records re-released it on its 1978 compilation album Soul Christmas, its popularity grew and over time, it has become a Christmas standard.
The words of the song are heartfelt and passionately sung with Hathaway putting every ounce of his soul into it:
Fireside is blazing bright
We’re caroling through the night
And this Christmas, will be
A very special Christmas, for meMerry Christmas
Shake a hand, shake a hand now
Wish you brother Merry Christmas
All over the land.
Because of recent turmoil impacting America and the rest of the world, I felt that this was perfect for this Christmas.
6) “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?” Ella Fitzgerald (1960)
Winning 13 Grammy awards and selling over 40 million albums, Ella Fitzgerald is truly one of America’s greatest female vocalists. Her records should be put in every time capsule that’s buried and sent along with every spaceship to the outer reaches of the galaxy. If there is life out there, and they hear Fitzgerald sing, they’ll be here faster than the speed of light.
This song was written by Frank Loesser in 1947 and recorded by Fitzgerald in 1960, appearing on her A Swinging Christmas LP. It tells of someone longing to ask another to spend the last evening of the year with him or her but fearing a negative response.
But, in the last verse, the question is finally asked — “Ooh, but in case I stand one little chance/Here comes the jackpot question in advance/What are you doing New Year’s/New Year’s Eve?”
This is one for when the party is over, the guests have left, the kids are in bed, and the champagne is just about gone.
7) “Merry Christmas Baby,” Charles Brown (1947)
One of the staples of the Christmas since it was written in 1947 by Lou Baxter and Johnny Moore, it has been recorded many times by stars large and small, but nothing beats slow and mellow version that pianist Charles Brown provided to the world. We are all thankful.
Brown, originally from Texas and a holding a degree in Chemistry from Prairie View A&M College, played on the original Aladdin release with Johnny Moore’s Three Blazers in 1947, but subsequently left them to form his own trio. Later, as R&B became faster and was morphing into rock ‘n’ roll, Brown stayed true to his slower, softer blues approach with a few hits here and there. After a lull, he was rediscovered in the late 80’s, recording and playing dates again around the country. He enjoyed many years of joy and praise from a new audience happy to embrace him.
This recording shows why Charles Brown is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. His slow, bluesy, and sophisticated delivery revealed a depth of feeling that few truly had, but spent careers trying to find. He was one of the greats.
8) “Merry Christmas, Darling,” The Carpenters (1970)
What a history this song has. Frank Pooler wrote the music for this song when he was 19 in 1946 because he was missing his girlfriend at Christmastime, but they broke up before he could give it to her. F
lash forward 20 years to Cal State Long Beach, where Pooler is now the choir director and Richard Carpenter and his sister Karen are members. Richard (also 19 at the time) asked Pooler if he had any ideas for a different kind of Christmas song as he was tired of the standards. Pooler gave Richard his old tune and Richard wrote some lyrics to it in 15 minutes or so! Two guys, both 19 — one writes the music and the other the lyrics 20 year later and it’s a hit? Cue the Twilight Zone theme!
The Carpenters released it as a single in November 1970 and it won a Gold Record. In 1978 they released a Christmas album which included “Merry Christmas, Darling” and for this release Karen re-recorded her vocals because she thought it needed a more mature approach. She sang it on their televised Christmas special that same year and it became a hit once more.
Karen had one of the most beautiful and recognizable voices ever and pairing it with “Merry Christmas, Darling” elevates the song to one of the best. It is universally appreciated by the world at large and a definite must-play at your upcoming gatherings.
9) “Winter Song,” Sarah Bareilles, Ingrid Michaelson (2008)
We end our list with something outside the classic rock rep, but a classic all the same. Sarah Bareilles is a multi-instrumentalist and singer from California and Ingrid Michaelson is equally as versatile. Both talented women were born in 1979 and have carved-out respected careers that have set them apart from the usual female singer/songwriter sound-alikes. “Winter Song” was co-written by the ladies and included on the album The Hotel Café presents… Winter Songs in 2008.
The song elicits images of a wintery night where someone is singing out to her lover through the winter storm to guide him/her to where she is: “My voice/a beacon in the night/My words will be your light/To carry you to me.” It was so well received the two played it for President Obama and his family at the National Christmas Tree Lighting in December 2010.
What are some of your favorite songs for the winter and the holiday season? Tell us in the comments!
