In 1953, Eartha Kitt released the song “Santa Baby”, which quickly became a Christmas classic.
The song has quite the jazz influence to it, as most Christmas songs of that time did, but Kitt’s record stood out from the rest because of its lyrics. The song is supposed to be a humorous look at a woman asking Santa Claus for very expensive and lavish gifts, and was not intended to be taken seriously, although many people did.
People thought that the tone of Kitt’s voice was too sexy, and therefore sexualized the idea of children writing letters to Santa Claus. Others believe that the lyrics glorify being what some might call a “gold-digger” and that nobody should be asking Santa for that many expensive things. Regardless of those who are unable to take this song as an obvious joke, most of us still consider it a classic and love to hear new artists put their spin on it every holiday season.
Elizabeth is a junior at Rowan University studying Early Childhood Education along with Writing Arts who considers listening to a wide variety of music to be one of her hobbies. From country to jazz to rap and everything in between, she loves to create the perfect playlist to fit her mood, although what she loves even more than that is live music. After being to around 30 concerts, if not more, within her 20 years, she believes that live music is really such a peaceful way to bring people together and spread happiness.