11/30/08

So, why do I know this song?

You know this song because of the Dinah Shore and Buddy Clark version (1949).

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Or... maybe because of the Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer version... (which also charted in 1949! - I guess they just couldn't get enough of this song!)

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Originally by Frank Loesser, it was featured in the film Neptune's Daughter - by both duets.

Please. Don't let me keep you from enjoying this song if it's your favorite Christmas carol. The old versions capture that great old-timey repressed sexuality and moral-forthrightness-despite-temptation which gives a clever wink to horniness that we all associate with the '50s!

But my issue: These days, they drudge up this song to be nostalgic and sweet, when really it's a song about finding an excuse to stay over and get freaky! And that forces artists to make a choice: do they play up the overt sexuality of the song, or neuter it in keeping with the 'family spirit' of Christmas? Can you really tell me that the James Taylor and Natalie Cole version approaches sexuality with anything other than total weirdness? I mean, they're kinda askin me to imagine them hookin' up.

Now maybe we can picture it with these two, but what about...

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