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 about "Lola" from the legendary transgender punk singer/artist Jayne County. It was originally published in a Lola Versus Powerman And The Moneygoround, Part One box set in 2020. "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.
"I don’t wanna show the guy up, but Moby should be careful what he says," Davies added on X. "the cockettes And their friends used to follow us around on tour. We appreciated them. Why is Moby being so rude about this simple song? We’re not trans phobic. Why does he have to have a go at us?"
UPDATE: Dave told Rolling Stone he spoke to Ray on the phone about Moby's post. "Ray said to me, ‘Who the fuck is Moby?'" he offered. Then Dave listened to some of Moby's music:
“I don’t like to criticize anybody. But I didn’t particularly like his music. And I don’t like him because he’s throwing all this shit up about something that shouldn’t bother him. I don’t think we should make a fuss about it … I do love animals. I appreciate Moby’s work for animals. But he’s misinterpreting us, really.”
Commenting on Stereogum's Instagram, Soft Cell's Marc Almond added:
Oh for gods sake , a brilliant funny affectionate , sweet and actually groundbreaking song telling a Soho story of a naive guy in the city , one of my all time favourites . Chill out ?
Dave has teased a Kinks reunion since he and his brother mended their relationship and played “You Really Got Me” together in London in 2015. He now tells RS "it doesn’t look like" a proper reunion is gonna happen.
See the full post below.
