The Kinks’ Dave Davies Slams Moby for Saying Lyrics of the Band’s Hit Song ‘Lola’ Are ‘Gross’ and ‘Transphobic’

Jack IrvinMon, March 23, 2026 at 3:41 PM UTC

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Dave Davies in April 2023; Moby in May 2019Credit: Al Pereira/Getty; Slaven Vlasic/Getty -

Moby criticized the lyrics of The Kinks' 1970 hit "Lola" as "gross" and "transphobic"

The Kinks' Dave Davies defended the song and shared praise from transgender punk singer Jayne County

County credited "Lola" with inspiring her music and breaking barriers for LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream culture

Dave Davies is calling out Moby for his comments about The Kinks' hit song "Lola."

Moby, 60, recently called spoke about feeling the lyrics to "Lola" are "gross" and "transphobic" in an interview with The Guardian, leading a "highly insulted" Davies, 79, to respond with a series of social media posts on Sunday, March 22.

The "South Side" musician was asked by The Guardian to name a song he can't listen to anymore. "'Lola' by the Kinks came up on a Spotify playlist, and I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic," he told the outlet. "I like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are."

Released in 1970, "Lola" features lyrics about a meet cute between a young man and a transgender woman at a bar in London's Soho district. "Well, I'm not dumb but I can't understand / Why she walked like a woman but talked like a man," sings lead singer Ray Davies on the hit song, which charted at No. 2 in the U.K. and No. 9 in the U.S.

The Kinks' lead guitarist and Ray's brother Dave took to X with his response to Moby's comments. "I am highly insulted that MOBY would accuse my brother of being ‘unevolved’ or transphobic in any way," he wrote, sharing a piece of writing from transgender punk singer Jayne County about her thoughts on "Lola."

County, 78, wrote about how the name "Lola" initially reminded her of Marlena Dietrich performing the song "Lola!" in the 1930 film The Blue Angel. She expressed feeling like Dietrich's number may have inspired the subject of The Kinks' hit song.

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"And a woman with a low voice and the name Lola, would certainly qualify for a possible encounter with either a transvestite or transexual," she said. "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," continued County. "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!"

County noted that "Lola" influenced her own approach to songwriting, specifically her song "Wonder Woman," which references The Kinks' track in its lyrics.

The Kinks in the 1970sCredit: Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage

She added, "'Lola' will always be a very special song to me! With this song, The Kinks projected themselves into the modern world. The REAL world! A world full of all kinds of people! Bisexual, Gay, Trans, not just a world full of straight heterosexuals!"

"'Lola' broke down the doors of narrow mindedness and I will always be grateful and happy that The Kinks gave me this incredible song with such a great story. Being Trans myself this will always be a very special song for me," concluded County's note.

Dave added in a follow-up post, "I don’t wanna show the guy up, but Moby should be careful what he says. [Drag performers] 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?"

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”