Jewish Stereo Types

"Baby, It's Cold Outside," by Frank Loesser, as sung by Lady Gaga and Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Video posted by Dragon Blast New York hasn't seen temps above freezing in almost two weeks and at this point it's cold inside, too! Alas, it is no longer possible to play this song without addressing the controversy that has arisen around it over the years because of the "wolf" and "mouse" aspects of the song, especially the "Say, what's in that drink?" lyric. And of course, if you look at the lyrics (or listen to some of the recorded duets), it certainly sounds like a man pressuring a woman to submit to sex. First, that line, which sounds suspiciously like it's referring to a date rape drug. TODAY. The song was written in 1944, before date rape drugs were a thing that people normally thought of, and I've definitely heard that line used (mostly by men) in several movies of that period--a slangy way of saying "I didn...

"What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" by Frank Loesser, sung by The Orioles in the original 1949 recording: Video posted by MusicProf78 According to the Songfacts blog , this is the second most popular song for the end of the year, and it is the kind of ballad that is usually sung in a melancholy tone because the singer instinctively knows the answer (you're probably busy). So let's undercut the lyrics with this playful version sung by Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt: Video by HelloGiggles/Zooey Deschanel Maybe it's that they're clearly having so much fun, or maybe it's that it's a duet, but one way or another they clearly expect the answer to be, "Spending it with you, you idiot!" Deschanel's note is wrong about one thing, though--the original isn't by Nancy Wilson, whose recording of the song came out in 1965. "What Are You Doing New Year's Eve" was written by Frank Loesser in 1947 as a stand-al...