Dave Davies Responds To Moby’s Comment On The Kinks’ “Lola” Lyrics: “I Am Highly Insulted That Moby Would Accuse My Brother Of Being Unevolved Or Transphobic”

According to Pitchfork.com, over the weekend, Moby participated in The Guardian’s “Honest Playlist” column, which asks musicians and other celebrities to compile list of songs based on specific prompts. For “the song I can no longer listen to,” the producer and DJ opted for “Lola” by the Kinks. “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.”

Then, Kinks guitarist Dave Davies then responded to Moby’s comments about “Lola,” which was written by the band’s frontman and Davies’ brother, Ray. “I am highly insulted that Moby would accuse my brother of being ‘unevolved’ or transphobic in any way,” he wrote on social media.

Davies also shared a statement from the pioneering transgender punk artist Jayne County. In it, she writes: “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!”

“Lola” was released in June 1970 as the lead single from that year’s Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One. Whether the song’s subject is a trans woman or a cross-dresser remains a longstanding point of contention. “It really doesn’t matter what sex Lola is,” Ray Davies told Record Mirror in an interview around the time of release. “I think she’s all right.”