Spooky szn may have ended just a week ago, but the holiday season is most certainly upon us. This week brought us Starbucks holiday cups, Mariah Carey celebrated 25 years of “All I Want for Christmas Is You” (25 years?!), and this morning, John Legend dropped a brand-new take on the classic holiday ballad, “Baby It’s Cold Outside,” as a duet with Kelly Clarkson.
Over the past few years, the song has come under fire for lyrics that don’t translate especially well to modern ideals and conversational norms (“Say, what’s in this drink,” for example.) Legend and Clarkson decided to tackle this by creating some new lyrics for the song, which appears on the new, deluxe version of Legend’s A Legendary Christmas holiday album.
In this updated version, the male singer orders a car to take his female guest home (the driver’s name is Murray, and he is the best part of the song, 100%) and sings lines like “your body, your choice,” intermixed with lines from the original version.
The song, which debuted last night, has caused a bit of a stir online, with some complaining that the song didn’t need updating, while others celebrated the new lyrics. But no matter how you feel, I think you should give the new version a listen — it’s funny (Murray even pipes in because she’s taking too long!) and sure to get you into the holiday spirit!
Give it a listen below.
Photo: Columbia Records
