DENVER — “Denver’s Holiday Station” will resume playing “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” following a vote on its website.
KOSI 101.1 said Tuesday that the Christmas song would be returning to the air after receiving 15,000 votes from listeners.
“We value the opinion of all our listeners and appreciate the feedback we received,” said KOSI 101.1 Program Director Jim Lawson in a statement released Tuesday afternoon. “Respondents voted 95 percent in favor of us keeping the song as part of KOSI 101.1’s tradition of playing all of your holiday favorites. While we are sensitive to those who may be upset by some of the lyrics, the majority of our listeners have expressed their interpretation of the song to be non-offensive.”
The station explained that over the weekend, it received complaints from listeners following news that a Cleveland station has stopped playing the song, citing the “Me Too” movement.
On Monday, the station stopped playing the song, as explained in a statement from Lawson sent to FOX31. A short time later, the radio station put the poll on its website.
“We wanted everyone to weigh in because that is the only way we could make a good choice,” KOSI morning show host Jenny D. said. “We can’t choose for you. This is more your station than ours. We’re letting you have a voice that I think a lot of people need.”
Jenny fielded calls all morning long on the controversial topic.
“We talked to people and it never stopped, and that was a good thing because everyone was telling us how they feel. I hope they know we were there to listen.”
Some believe “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is inappropriate for modern times due to its lyrics.
In the song, a man is trying to convince a woman to stay with him instead of returning home, citing poor weather. The female vocalist sings, “I really can’t stay,” to which the male singer responds, “But baby, it’s cold outside.”
Other lyrics sung by the woman include: “Say, what’s in this drink?” and “I simply must go … The answer is ‘no.’”
KOSI 101.1 is the only FM station in the Denver market exclusively playing Christmas music during the holiday season.
It’s personal for Jenny D.
Jenny also shared her own personal story of surviving a sexual assault when she was in college. She said she is not offended by the song’s lyrics that some complained encouraged date rape.
“I was able to say as somebody who survived assault, I don’t see this as a trigger for me, not saying its not a trigger for you. Not saying it doesn’t actually offend you,” she said.
“I have a unique perspective. We just don’t want them to think they weren’t heard because I know it’s even hard to talk about it and these people have reached out and told me so many amazing stories of strength and I want them to know I heard those.”
“I feel like if I can talk about it for 5 seconds, if I can get through it, if I can talk about it for a few seconds and I can give someone hope that there is a point when you can talk about it and you will find it a little easier everyday, it never goes away, but talking about it helps at least for me,” she added.
And she says she hopes this is the start of an even bigger conversation.
“It has opened up this big huge discussion.. there is a bigger issue there, as a mom with daughters, whose been through something similar, I get there is a discussion to be had there,” Jenny added.
“Where do we go from here? is it a song? No. it’s not going to be a song, it’s gotta be something bigger than a song,” Jenny said. “Just because the song is still on the radio doesn’t mean we don’t understand what you’re going through.”
“Me especially. If we can find a way to help you to help us make it a bigger discussion so we can talk about it openly in a safe place with people that have been through it, I would love that. I would love that. I think that would be good for my girls and younger.”
