Today as part of The Guardian's Honest Playlist column, Moby revealed the song he can no longer listen to: "'Lola' by the Kinks came up on a Spotify playlist, and I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic," he said. "I like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are." Moby didn't specify exactly which lyrics bothered him in the 1970 hit, on which Ray Davies proclaims: "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls/ It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola." Music historians have cited it as an early LGBT anthem, which was pretty much Davies' goal with the song: "I did a bit of research with drag queens," he said in a 50-year retrospective. "I admire anyone who can get up and be what they want to be."
To prove that point in light of Moby's comments, Davies' brother and bandmate Dave Davies shared a statement the Kinks received about "Lola" from the legendary transgender punk singer/artist Jayne County. "I am highly insulted that Moby would accuse my brother of being ‘unevolved’ or transphobic in any way," Dave wrote. County's statement reads in part:
When I heard the song I was both thrilled and amazed that the Kinks would be singing a song about a trans person and wondered if anyone else had picked up on it! Who was cool or hip enough to realize what The Kinks we're singing about! Lola will always be one of those songs that for me 'broke the ice' so to speak! A song that breaks down barriers and brings a used to be, hush, hush subject to the forefront and makes it sound perfectly natural to be singing a song about a 'girl' named Lola! I don't think the radio stations picked up on the subject matter but a lot of the fans did and that's what really matters... Being Trans myself this will always be a very special song to me.
See the full post below.
