\n<\/p>\n
Over the weekend, Moby<\/a> participated in The Guardian<\/em>\u2019s \u201cHonest Playlist<\/a>\u201d column, which asks musicians and other celebrities to compile a list of songs based on specific prompts. For \u201cThe song I can no longer listen to,\u201d the producer and DJ opted for \u201cLola\u201d by the Kinks<\/a>. \u201cLola by the Kinks came up on a Spotify playlist, and I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic,\u201d he said. \u201cI like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are.\u201d<\/p>\n Kinks guitarist Dave Davies then responded to Moby\u2019s comments about \u201cLola,\u201d which was written by the band\u2019s frontman and Davies\u2019 brother, Ray. \u201cI am highly insulted that Moby would accuse my brother of being \u2018unevolved\u2019 or transphobic in any way,\u201d he wrote on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n Davies also shared a statement from the pioneering transgender punk artist Jayne County. In it, she writes: \u201cLola will always be one of those songs that for me \u2018broke the ice\u2019 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 \u2018girl\u2019 named Lola! I don\u2019t think the radio stations picked up on the subject matter but a lot of the fans did and that’s what really matters!\u201d Read County\u2019s full words below.<\/p>\n \u201cLola\u201d was released in June 1970 as the lead single from that year\u2019s Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One<\/em>. Whether the song\u2019s subject is a trans woman or a cross-dresser remains a longstanding point of contention. \u201cIt really doesn\u2019t matter what sex Lola is,\u201d Ray Davies told Record Mirror<\/em> in an interview around the time of release. \u201cI think she\u2019s all right.\u201d As \u201cLola\u201d climbed the charts, UK radio DJs took to fading out the song before its final-verse revelation\u2014\u201cI\u2019m glad I\u2019m a man and so is Lola\u201d\u2014while some Australian stations banned it from airplay entirely.<\/p>\n