I greatly enjoy a number of the Kinks songs, they were a brilliant group that created a number of classics that still resonate today.
One thing that always makes me stop and wonder is how many people believe firmly that they know the gender of Lola.
To me it seems that they have missed the brilliance of the lyrical ambiguity. The lines that really seem to be misunderstood are: "But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man and so is Lola.". Most people I talk to who have yet to get it believe firmly that the lines indicate that Lola is a man.
This interpretation arises from the belief that "so is Lola" refers to the fragment "I'm a man". This is a perfectly valid interpretation of the lyric but ignores another equally valid interpretation.
There is another fragment that could be referred to by "so is Lola"; "I'm glad I'm a man". If this is the reference then the interpretation would be that Lola is also glad that the protagonist is a man thus leaving Lola's gender entirely unstated.
In many ways this is the aural equivalent of the face/vase illusion where you can see either the faces or the vase but not both.
Whatever else it is, it is a brilliant song with brilliant lyrics.
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3 comments:
I heard that "Lola" was based on a true story and that the young lady in question, er, wasn't.
But I'm too lazy to find the reference.
- Phill
Yeah - that was where the band's manager Robert Wace spent the evening dancing with a transvestite.
That was the inspiration for the song and it's uncertainty. The song was not a record of the evening so I'd suggest that Lola's gender is still indeterminate.
"She picked me up and sat me on her knee."
I don't know how many women you've dated who have done that to you, Rob...
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