That's a beautiful way of putting it and it's true. Homophobic people often turn out to be closeted.

@ok9908 yeah and sad strange that' Mandela and Desmond tutu were pro gay and homosexulity tights ate included in the constitution god bless Mandela and Desmond tutu anc suid afrika/South Africa, piss off Uganda Kenya and Nigeria laziest people on the face of the and stop coming to the UK if you're country so great stay there' remember our country our rules Nigerian nurses laziest pile.of crap on the planet

@@ok9908 Never quite understood that accusation. Are people who are scared or or don't like terrorists secretly harboring terrorism tendencies? Are people who are scared of heights secretly harboring a desire to climb ladders? Oh well. Fun song for sure, and believe it or not I'm in no way anti gay or trans and want everyone to live their life as they want. Just never been convinced that people who are against certain lifestyles or have fears secretly want to be part of them or live them. Why can't they just not like and agree with those lifestyles instead of, as you say, secretly be part of them.

I think it's a genuinely sweet song. He thinks about storming out, and changes his mind, and realises he doesn't care and he loves her anyway.

I'd never twigged that ambiguity before!

Agreed - I think it's one of the most brilliantly written lines in songwriting history.

This "Ambiguity" is a New Concept. I'm 71 and we knew what he meant ....

@@jamesalexander5623 Of course we did. But the "ambiguity" is how they got away with it. They could not have written "Lola's a dude too."

@@TheoZoffrok There isn't any. It's a New idea!

I think people assume the man instead of glad. I can also see it both ways.

@@NunyaDammeBiznis I agree but I love how, considering the times, Davies makes sure he has Plausible Deniability….

Yes! Someone else GOT the line! The whole set of lyrics is deliciously ambiguous!

I always read it as lola is glad to be a man, I think, because I've always thought of lola as a drag queen who causes the singer to question his sexuality but idk that's just my interpretation

@@1827crowley - Deliciously ambiguous, as befits the times (air play was critical). Plausible deniability!

😂

There is nothing in the actual story about "making out".

​@@jnagarya519bruh they were making fun of him for trying to take a man in a dress home.

@@CannabisDreams Nope. Ray Davies spent the night dancing in a club. The person he was dancing with, he discovered when they left the club at dawn, was a man in drag. Nothing in the song is about anyone making fun of anyone. I was an adult when it was a hit; as one who was 15 when "The Beatles" hit the US, and who had as long been into "The Kinks," I recognize/d that the song is an inferior "novelty" which became a hit because there is a segment of record buyers who snap up "novelty" records. It really isn't that important a record when compared to Ray Davies' important work.

@@jnagarya519 and they were still making fun of him. People in the 60s weren't as fucking disgusting and degenerate as we are now.

They wrote the song to make fun of their manager for getting so drunk he brought home a black dude in a dress and fucked him. The song is mockery.

It wouldn't have been a hit if it weren't "weird" to the listening audience. It isn't "respectful"; it is disturbed and shocked to discover that he was enjoying being with an attractive female that turned out to be a man in drag.

​@jnagarya519 I disagree. The lyrics are purposefully designed to be ambiguous. Most people listening to it had no clue what it was about. It's certainly way too generous to say the Kinks are like some kind of 1970s LGBT ally but it is also inaccurate to say the point is supposed to be mocking. To me it seems intentionally transgressive. There certainly isn't anything saying the character in the song regretted the experience. Again I don't agree with either side. It isn't respectful or mocking. It's just a thing that happened and seemed pretty enjoyable for the singer. Make of that what you will

@@SamSullyV Ray Davies was often a social satirist. That's the context in which this minor lyric was written. An incident happened and he "reported" it. Whether he "enjoyed" it more than the momentary surprise or shock isn't known or even relevant. If you look at his fuller writing -- his focus on affirming nostalgia and conservative values, you'll see he is conservative, not "transgressive". That he enjoys from time to time poking convention in the eye does not mean he's "transgressive" -- which is a narrow view of the arts, which are, across the board, a criticism of imperfect reality. It was a novel experience; there are many novel experiences; art is, in that sense, like "news": dog bites man is the norm, not "news"; man bites dog is not the norm, therefore is "news". That which is not the norm stands out from the background of normalcy. He wasn't pro- or con- about the novel experience; he was simply reporting it. And it was a hit -- whereas more significant and substantive "Kinks" were not -- see "Dead End Street" -- because it was a novelty -- there is an audience for that. Many who bought it probably never bought any other "Kinks" recordings. There is much made of the lyric because current "values" are being applied to it -- "values" which had nothing to do with the times in which it was written. More is made of it than it deserves. Davies wrote about the distinctive -- the distinctive gets attention; those who like the "freaky" make a big deal out of that which, in context, isn't of much merit. To claim it is DELIBERATELY ambiguous can't be known; it is "ambiguous" because underwritten. He encapsulated a one-time incident and then moved on -- listen to the ENTIRE LP on which it was included: what is its theme -- what is the "Moneygoround"? Where does the song "Get Back in Line" originate? There's an old blues song which has the lines -- "If you're white. you're alright. "If you're brown, stick around. "If you're Black, get back." And what is "Denmark Street" about? Isn't that London's "song publishers row"? "Lola" is a throwaway.

Travestite* not trans

I always cry when I listen to Some Mother's Son. All dead soldiers look the same. Omg

Yeah ! Forgot about Come Dancing. I didn’t like it at the time, I was a teen at the time. Much better now!

Maybe Stone Roses? Then again Love Spreads is 80s Lola

Tull could be pretty darn British at times as well.

It wasn't defiance. When "Lola" was written and released it was an era during which "anything goes" -- including, especially, confusion -- was the "norm".

I don't know wtf you're talking about.

It's amazing how people can read their own agenda into songs where, in truth, it isn't there.

I agree guicho gf, seems everyone just did their own thing, no judgement, except maybe by the squares.

@Ziggy Marlowe I'm 61 and I don't care how anyone chooses to live. I draw the line at expecting me to play along with your delusion.

Well, it's not rocket science Jeff, You must know we did have transsexuals , lesbians , homosexuals and straight guys who were happily married but were transvestites they just liked wearing female clothes and wearing make up....drag artists Its nothing new . Ever heard of Quentin Crisp. ?No bullying on social media and trolling... Today's generation just sometimes can't get their heads round their parents and grandparents partying as hard as they do.. seeing and experiencing stuff that they think is all new . We had the best music growing up. Just brilliant.. metal. , glam rock !! Hard rock, funk, punk , , west coast, east coast just real musicians and raw talent . ..so to comment wtf is someone on about is just disresptful.

Lou Reed knew all the people in Wild Side and Ray Davies knew Candy Darling.

@@sjames1955 Candy Darling was likely who it was about, though there are conflicting stories as to whether he or the drummer dated her.

Saw them in 81 and i had never heard that. I left the venue singing it.

@@toddism that's fantastic!

Love Celluloid Heroes-gives me goosebumps every time 😁👍👍

@@alabhaois Me as well. Hey, have you heard Joan Jett's version? She imitates Ray Davies' cadence, it's so clever.

@@jons.105 I have now. Very good.

Loved that song!

It was cleverly written enough that it went right over the heads of the people who would want to stop it from playing on the air

@@izzonj 👍🏼

But what IS Lola? Is she 'a man?' Or, is she "glad?"

@@coachhannah2403😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@Coach Hannah .both, dumbass. Lola is glad HE is a man, Yu dumbass.

Yeah, this song was *not* "ahead of its time" as the thumbnail suggests. Modern youth seem to think that all of the past was one long, depressing nightmare of bigotry, repression and intolerance. Modern activists certainly want to portray themselves as the very first people in human history to be openminded and accepting of the eccentricities of others. But actual history isn't the cartoonish dystopia they seem to think it is.

@@flatebo1 generally agree. the sixties had a lot of what might be referred to as "modern" themes . Unfortunately history is not a hot topic in today's society.

Tat was during the "glam rock" days.

Yes, Bowie and Jagger and the Sweet etc liked to wear makeup and female clothing, as part of the act.

The awakening eh?

They’re my favorite group-I’ve seen them five times and loved every minute. 🎸🎸🎸

None better

Sorry its far from accepting.

@@jeffjones6221 FACTS!!

You think this song is accepting? Listen to it again.

Wayne - Why do you think this song is not accepting?

@@joealberti7762 you actually know the lyrics? It's not condemning, but it's certainly not accepting.

"70s were pretty tough times for LGBT people" - That's why David Bowie, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Liberace, Freddie Mercury, The Village People, Joan Jett and many others were so unsuccessful, right? Try again.

My mom knew what it was about. I first heard it in 1977 at age 12, and I got it (but I was also closeted trans, so...). And don't tell the TERFS, but a lesbian 70s band covered it and *they* knew what it was about.

This 14 year old got it right away. I don't recall anyone missing the point. All in fun.

I would just respectfully suggest that Lou Reed has a legitimate place on that list.

I would add Dedicated Follower of Fashion and Apeman, and (a bit more obscure) The Village Green Preservation Society (as a pure send up of traditional "conservatism"). Their satirical lyrics are excellent!

@@seajaytea9340 Great choices. Totally agree. The entire Village Green album is a thing of beauty.

Coca Cola didn't have the song banned, the BBC banned it because of their no advertising policy. The original version was released in the USA.

@@paulqueripel3493 Of coarse