Some of my fondest childhood memories are of my dad and I singing classic rock as we drove through the countryside. I happily swung my feet as my dad inserted Lola Versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, Part One—an album released by The Kinks—into the CD player. Finally, my favorite song, Lola, played as I cheerfully belted out the lyrics. It was in my adolescence that I learned the true meaning of Lola.

The song begins with the narrator going to a club where the “champagne…tastes just like Coca-Cola.” While not immediately clear, this line foreshadows later themes of the song, introducing the idea of something appearing as it originally wasn’t. Despite the difference, it is still enjoyable. It is at this point that listeners meet Lola, a woman that captivates the narrator.

She walked up to me and she asked me to dance

I asked her her name and in a dark brown voice she said Lola

…

Well, I’m not the world’s most physical guy

But when she squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine

…

Well, I’m not dumb but I can’t understand

Why she walked like a woman but talked like a man

When listeners first meet Lola, she is introduced as having a deep and husky voice. She is also described as strong, capable of hugging the narrator in a way that overpowers him. The narrator depicts Lola as being quite masculine, going as far as to state that she “talked like a man.” Despite this, he is still enjoying his time with her and they spend the rest of their night drinking and dancing. Eventually, Lola asks him if he’ll come home with her, to which he agrees.

I pushed her away

I walked to the door

I fell to the floor

I got down on my knees

Then I looked at her and she at me

It is at this moment that the narrator realizes that Lola is not a cisgender woman. While he is initially shocked and even begins to leave, he quickly realizes that she is still Lola.

Well, that’s the way that I want it to stay

And I always want it to be that way for my Lola

…

Girls will be boys and boys will be girls

It’s a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world, except for Lola

The narrator states that he wants Lola to be a transgender woman because that is what makes her Lola. He further notes that there is a lot of confusion in the world, but Lola isn’t confused. She is confident in her identity.

But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man

And so is Lola

This is the most famous line of the song, as it is ambiguous. It is unclear if Lola is glad that the narrator is a man, or if she is a man. The popular belief is that she is glad that she is a male so that she could experience what it means to be a trans woman. While the lyrics may be a bit outdated—a product of the time that it was written in—it is still a transfemme love song nonetheless. Lola discusses transness in a positive light, signaling that transgender people are lovable. At the time of the song’s release, the topic of being trans was not widely discussed or understood, and when it occasionally was, transgender individuals were often painted in a poor light. Lola is progressive for its time, portraying trans women as sexy and desirable, a notion that was revolutionary for its time.