WAIT WHAT! FIRST TIME HEARING The Kinks Lola REACTION
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- Опубліковано 10 лют 2025
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This song is 55 years old. This was as honest as you could get then about this subject, and far more honest than just about anything up to that point.
Bingo. You said it before I could. Also, for those who didn't pay close attention to the lyrics, they could miss the entire meaning of the song. I had a friend who for years thought the song was about a naive young man from the country who comes to the big city and has an encounter with a prostitute.
The song is based on a true story based on an experience by the bands manager. Ray Davies wrote the lyrics after their manager got drunk at a club and started dancing with what he thought was a woman. Toward the end of the night, his stubble started showing, but their manager was too hammered to notice 🤣
I think it was the next morning when he noticed the stubble.
I'm 62.... I grew up with this song, and I will never stop loving watching people react to hearing it for the first time.
The look on your face when things started to click into place was priceless! Thank you!
Dude, it was 1970 -- there was no way you could or would come right out and say it. To reveal it with a wink was cool. To blatantly say it was just not done. In 1970 a LOT LOT LOT of people would not have liked that. As a matter of fact, I think this song helped advance awareness that gay people existed, and did it in a fun way. The singer did not expect Lola to be a man, but obviously he wasn't too upset about it. Again -- this was revolutionary in 1970, when gay rights were just becoming a thing in mainstream America and Great Britain, where the Kinks were from. The 1969 Stonewall Riots in New York's Greenwich Village were really the first time many Americans had heard of a real gay culture, and those men and women were beaten by police and arrested just for being at a bar together. It's hard to realize how extraordinarily much times have changed -- and, I think, reason to take heart about the present and future. Great reaction!
It's not about gay people. It's about transgenders😂
🎯
yep
I like MRLBOYD's videos but this admittedly was a dumb take from him 😂
You don't need to overthink this too much, it's the story of a guy spending a nice time in the company of a transexual and slowly becoming aware that they are a transwoman and his reaction to that... plus it brought to light an issue in 1970 that was unspoken and didn't do it in a nasty, derogatory way to the subject which would have been typical of the time.
Well said! You nailed it!
Strangely enough, this song was banned by the BBC, but not because of the subject matter. The line was originally "where they drink champagne and it tastes just like Coca Cola", but the BBC had a rule against playing songs that mentioned brand names, so they changed it to cherry cola.
Hey, I was gonna say that, but you beat me to it!😊
I never interpreted it to be literally describing the taste. More like "they were drinking champagne like most people drink Coca Cola."
@@dr.burtgummerfan439more than the clubs were really low rent, they'd give you cheap stuff and charge high.
LOL, your face when you finally got it....... priceless
He's not the sharpest bowling ball in the quiver, but when he finally got the obvious... BLAMMO!!
Peace and love to all the Lolas'
Thank you. They're especially needing that love and support in the US at the moment due to the current President's repressive and retrogressive policies on gender issues, with hateful transphobic rhetoric increasing from some politicians on the right. Please pray for their safety now and in the future.. Peace and love from Australia..
@@papercup2517 Hear hear!
You should do walk on the wild side by lou Reed. LOL 😅
Unlike the comment above you, this song is no longer on the radio lol.
First thing that went through my head
@@FiveAcross Unsure if it's because of subject matter or because "all the colored girls sing doo do doo"
Absolutely! 😂
@@FiveAcross that's bullshit it's like burning the bible
i was wondering if you were going to come to the right conclusion lol you nailed it sir!
i dont think its a guy who likes guys, i think its about a inexperienced guy goes to a club meets a girl who he finds out is a man.......................
I too was watching saying come on you’re almost there you almost got it ha ha ha, ha, ha
He got there eventually . . . there are a lot of hints in the lyrics, but at the time they couldn't be any more explicit!
I was 11 years old when this song came out. I didn't understand the lyrics, but I had a feeling that it was conveying a hidden message.
55 years later and fully understanding the lyrics, it's still in my top 10 songs of all time.
This is a tongue in cheek song, that's why the singer is low key smirking throughout the song.
@richardlaiche8303 it was a TV show, probably top of the pops of course they were miming
The story was based on what happened to their manager. He drank so much he failed to notice the five o"clock shadow on the "lady". He exited when he figured it out. The manager didn't know it was a club where cross-dressers could feel at home. He just drifted into the wrong place. lol. Thanks for the review of this clever song. We saw the light start to appear for you about halfway through that something wasn't quite as it seems. Some reviewers don't get it at all.
Was just gonna say this. Their manager spent all night dancing with a transvestite in Paris. However, Ray Davies admitted to "researching" trans-sexuality when he wrote it and rumours suggested that he went on a date with Andy Warhol's model/actress - an American transexual called Candy Darling (real name James Slattery).
One of my favourite songs of all time is Waterloo Sunset by the Kinks. The perfect pop song. Love your reactions!
I think that's their best song..
Love this song, first time I heard it was on the radio on the way home from college 2005-2010. As the song progressed, my smile got bigger and bigger and happy surprise. I called the radio station and the dj advised that “the story” was that the band’s manager apparently had a similar confusing encounter and that’s what the song is about. Also I was looking for reactions to this song yesterday and found myself thinking “I wish MrLBoyd did a reaction to this song. Then lo and behold, this evening your 2 hours old reaction to the song, so happy early birthday for me woooooooo! Have a beautiful day!
Now that you've heard this, you have to listen to Yoda by Weird Al! It's a parody of Lola
I absolutely concur! "I met him in a swamp down in dagobah..."
@KittenOfDeath77 I have to ask some preliminary questions to confirm this. Did it bubble all the time? Like some giant carbonated soda?
You should listen to by Weird Al. It's fire.
That was fantastic! I love it when you get tickled and try so hard to keep your composure. I was laughing the entire time, sitting here like, "wait for it, wait for it...!!"
The Kinks are one of the best bands to come out of the UK. Amazing catalog.
I grew up listening to this song and never paid attention to the lyrics until I was about 9 or 10. My father confirmed that I was hearing it correctly.
How can you be that old and never heard this, LOL. Just kidding, but really! It still plays on classic rock radio regularly!
😅 Lol.. happy memories of 1971.. six of us, all at the back of the school bus with our transistor radios all tuned to the same radio station and singing as loud as we could to Lola.. and our bus driver always joined in singing along with us! We thought we were badass! Awesome, carefree days 😅
Coca Cola was the original lyric changed to cherry due to copyrights. Another song in the theme is by Lou Reed, "Take A Walk On The Wild Side".
Yeah, the reason they changed it was that the BBC's strict no-advertising rules meant that they wouldn't play any song that referenced a brand name.
Back in those days, people were careful with their words and felt they had to skirt around the issue. If anyone challenged them about their lyrics, they could pretend that Lola was glad the singer was a man.
"I'm glad I'm a man & so is Lola"
Oh yeah. Never thought of that.
1970 meant you could only strongly imply something like "I am glad I'm a Man and so is Lola".*** leaving the possibility that Lola, was, also, glad, that he was a Man or, MUCH more likely that they were both men, influenced by their Young Manager in Paris(?) heading for the bright lights in real life and encountering a "Lola". He did not seek the company of a man, but "she" approached him and he "nearly" fell for her but "pushed her away" while still liking her.
"Clues" where she came up to him, spoke in a dark brown voice, walked like a Woman, talked like a man, nearly broke his spine,"Girls will be Boys" plus this *** 😀😀
Arguably the greatest "snuck it past the censors" songs of the early rock era, among many others.
AC/ DC big balls?
@@joeri1341 That's another good one.
Well, it would have been, if the song didn't essentially end with 'just so we're all on the same page here, Lola has a penis'.
This song was about an unspoken social topic at the time!
Okay funny story...
In 1970, rock was just beginning to make the transition from AM radio to FM, and you could get away with more on FM like songs with longer tracks and rough language.
Now, this song came out in 1970 when I was 15, and I was raised in the Buckle of the Bible Belt known as Tulsa and this song was getting a lot of airplay because they never listened to lyrics! Meanwhile, us kids were hearing it on AM radio and cracking up in disbelief!
It's a lot like the Lynrd Skynrd song 'Gimme Three Steps' with the studio vs live version. They played both for years until someone noticed on the live version that he says, "Aw, I ain't gonna fight over this c*nt!"
And then it was only on FM... lol
You’re breaking down of the lyrics and coming to the conclusion was a fun trip. Great reaction! 😂
The Kinks are the great grandfathers of heavy metal. Their distorted guitar tone in “you really got me” is the start of it all.
True story, Soho in London at a bar. Either the music producer or a band member met a "girl" and discovered it was NOT a "girl" after his beard stubble started growing through the make up :) .The story is on the net google it. The Kinks were an awesome band , this was a major radio hit for the stations that were not afraid to play it lol. For the times it did raise some eye brows. Did you catch that bass line?? omg such great music !
Their manager.
Great reaction, Sir :) To answer your question: The original lyrics to the song "Lola" by the Kinks included the words "Coca-Cola". However, the BBC banned the song from being played on the radio due to its product placement. Ray Davies, the band's lead singer, changed the lyrics to "cherry cola" for the single release.
I always enjoy seeing people's reactions when they hear this song for the first time and realize what its all about...
It's not just a song about a guy that likes guys, it's an alleged true incident that occurred when one of the bands tour managers or at least attached to the band, went to a club, got drunk and was taken in completely that the girl wasn't all she appeared to be lol, so they wrote a song about it🤣
So many reactors miss it. Great reaction!
Your opinion about the music is honestly all I want to hear from you. Fabulous song that I have loved since the 70's.
The Kinks is one of the most influential British bands of the 1960's and are still influential to this day. As for Lola it's about a man pretending to be a woman who calls himself Lola.
Another thing the Kinks were fairly famous for was the two brothers,Ray Davies and Dave Davies, getting into fights onstage at concerts. Crazy. Never happened when I saw them.
I was 8 years old when this came out and was OBSESSED with this song, I have clear memories of singing this in the school playground, knowing it was naughty but not quite understanding why? 😂
8 years old??? Come on bruh...
Hahaha, local to me in North London , love me some Kinks.. I don't know how it got played back then.. My fav is Come Dancing, as a tribute to their sister who died from heart problems in her late teenage/early 20's..
Great video 👍 Songs and poetry and art in general tell people things that can't be shared openly 😂😂😂
@4:00 and he gets it! Love ur reactions, keep ‘em coming! He was saying it the whole time brother.✌🏻💗
This was released a month before my 19th birthday. Listened to over and over with my friends and none of us were under any illusion of what the song was about. No double-entendre at all. It was as plain as the nose on your face. And, straight, gay or whatever we were, we all thought it absolutely brilliant and it was all about accepting. It's fantastic that it is still so topical and should be played on a loop to all those people who are obsessed with gender and sexuality. For the record, I'm 73 and straight . . .
When I first heard the song I was in like the 7th grade, I didn't understand it then but once I got to high school it made a lot of sense. You know how people sometimes listen to music but never listen to the lyrics.
Took you a while to get it 😂
Amazing song, especially for back then.
Love the Kinks. Have a listen to you really got me
In the 70s We were woke before woke was a clichéd catch all. We didn't need to be told each to their own.
But it wasn't forced down anyone's throat either. People were content to change themselves without trying to change the world.
It was more he was inexperienced wanting to date ran into Lola and then realized who Lola was.
Correct, you got it!
When this came out (yes, I'm that old), I couldn't believe they were playing it on the radio.
It was 1970. Groundbreaking gay- friendly rock. In a 1983 interview, Ray Davies said, "I'm just very pleased I recorded it and more pleased I wrote it".
Your face was hilarious 🤣🤣 made me chuckle 😜
Now you need to hear Weird Al's "Yoda" from the early 80s.
In this experience he's never had alcohol much less Champaign so he equates it to his favorite drink. And so on...
I love everyone’s expression when they first hear this song. Love the Kinks.
I love you man you worked this out 50 years sooner than me, and I'm British 😂
Love your reaction! It was a wonderful time to live and for music!
It was widely played on am radio stations as I recall. It’s a good song. Yes we understood the words and meaning.
The song was a little more fun when it came out. Now everyone hears "so is Lola" first with a single meaning: "Lola is a man". Back in the day they heard "Lola is glad I'm a man" before they heard the second meaning "Lola is a man".
The Kinks were waaay ahead of their time with this song. Oddly it was banned in England at the time - not for the subject matter but 'cuz it mentioned a product name ('Cola'). Another song of theirs I think you'd like is "Come Dancing" - a truly feel good song if you're feeling down.
Nearly. Originally they sang "coca cola" and ray davies had to fly back to New York to record the word "cherry" which replaced the "coca" so it could be played on the BBC.
Bear in mind the same era the BBC banned "please mister can i borrow your biro" by Pete Atkin because its a trade name (Biro)
The ending lyrics of Lola were vague enough that they got past the BBC censorship..
The biggest hit by a band many consider the most under rated in history and it actually happened in the year 1970!⚛️
Lola had the catchiest chorus to sing along. I heard that this was based on a true experience. You got it in the end. My nephew always liked the song but never paid attention to the last verse! Walked like a woman and talked like a man.. Squeezed me tight she nearly broke my spine... The clues are there🤣
They had a big hit with You Really Got Me. You should check it out, and maybe the cover by Van Halen.
The Kinks used to cut the speaker membranes with razor blades to get that distorted guitar sound before effect pedals were generally available
So... holy crap... 30 years ago, just out of a small town, off to university in medium city, we'd all gone out to Denny's after the bar (sure, technically, you needed to be a certain age but...). Standing in line I look over, nod my head in a direction, and quietly say, "Wow, she has great legs!". My buddy, international student from London-ish, goes, "Take a much closer look...". And I end up having to go, "Ah... Ah, fine. Umm, he has great legs, I guess... yeah." (they were undeniably great legs no matter who had them). Luckily, dumber things happened to other people soon enough it didn't become a classic song :-D . I can 100% see young kid in the big city by himself and drinking, falling a little further before cluing in :-) .
😂😂 i was waiting for it!! Lol
Love this reaction, the slow burn as it becomes apparent was awesome.
I just always took it as a naive kid, out on the town for the first time, wanders into the wrong bar, and gets picked up by a drag queen.
The song sets the scene and walks us through his journey from excitement for the attention, to confusion, to the realization of what's actually happening.
It's a fun song, in my opinion. Lou Reed's "Walk On The Wild Side" is in a similar vein, and so is Charlie Daniels "Uneasy Rider '88", which is a sequel song to his original "Uneasy Rider".
These are all songs from a period where irreverent, fun songs were socially acceptable.
I love the Kinks. Grew up on their album: Misfits. Loved the songs: "Misfits", "Hay Fever", "Black Messiah", "Out of the Wardrobe", and "Rock & Roll Fantasy".
Loved this song by The Kinks and bought the single, which cost me a school boy friendship. No regrets.
This song contains one of the best lines ever written, I'm glad I'm a man and so is Lola. It can be Lola is also glad he's a man, or it can mean Lola's glad she's a man. Brilliant!
So far, you're the BEST reaction to this song.
4:23 there you go. It took a few minutes, but you got there.
Lightbulb
Another reason, I think, that they didn't come straight out with it is that you are seeing things unfold from the viewpoint of the naive protagonist. It is slowly dawning on you what the real situation is, as it did on him. Also, as said in a great many comments, they were sneaking it past the people that would ban the song outright. That is great writing right there. Though, I don't know why, but as a child (under ten) when my dad used to play this song back in the early 70s, I knew what it was all about. It makes me question my childhood, quite frankly.
Such a good song musically that I'm not certain everyone paid attention to the lyrics back in 1970. 😄
Growing up this was always on the radio..no judgment back then with the cool people😅
Back in the day the words for cherry cola were originally Cola Cola but they had to change them.
Also this song was banned from a lot of radio stations back then.
The trans community has been around a lot longer than people of today think.
You’d think it was high time they’d get over it and open their minds by now. 🙂
I NEVER clicked on a reaction faster! And you did not disappoint!
"I know what I am
And I'm glad I'm a man
And so is Lola"
The greatest double entendre lyric in music.
It's a classic from the era and had very little backlash or criticism.
It was banned from Britain for awhile..but not for it's meaning but because Coca Cola was a brand name and Britain didn't allow the use of brand name advertising over the airwaves. So, the Kinks changed the word to 'cherry'.
Australia banned it in some places because of it's content.
What it says is what it is.
The meaning isn't hidden at all.
Thanks for sharing.
Now it's time to check out Weird Al's parody "Yoda"
Keep on keepin' on, man
He is also writing/singing of the innocent farm boy set loosein the big city. So you realize what's up as he does
Back in the day when I lived in the UK (left in 1965 for Australia), popular music shows on our national broadcaster (BBC) were great but generally, due to the technology I guess, bands would mime to their hits. However, the Kinks would go live and were probably one of the best bands of their time for sounding even better than the studio version. Ray Davies was an absolute genius song writer. One of my favourite bands back then as a late teenager. By the way, I just knew the "penny" would drop as we say as the realisation fell upon you. 😆
Love this song
The original lyric was “drank Coca Cola” but the Kinks were not allowed to sing that on the BBC as it was advertising. Perhaps it was something to do with the “coca” cola part.
One of the earliest points in a reaction to think somethings fishy with Lola.....although he was wanting to go down a different path at first, but he course corrected before the end! 🤣
LOL-A Love your reaction and boy! do I feel old.
I love watching all the reactions to this!
Great reaction 😂😂😂 nope, it was an unexpected encounter
At the time WE were fortunate enough to take this quantity for granted...😊 REAL music
You have me cracking up at 7 something in the morning 😅😅😅
Champagne that tastes like cola, electric candlelight, Lola.... things that aren't what they seem.
The VERY first clue is early on when he says "..and in a dark brown voice she said Lola"
Lola in real life was black (in Paris), so this could also be a clue that she is black. It does mean that she was transgender. I asked my wife what it meant and she said that maybe it means Lola was black? Since then, I found out from two sources that she was black.
One of the best ambiguous lyrics ever, from the days of heavy censorship.
Innocent listener: "I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola (glad that I'm a man)"
Aware listener: "I'm glad I'm a man, and so is Lola (a man)"
The line was coke a cola, but had to be changed for TV performances. I'm guessing this is maybe from an old Top of the pops programme?
I was a junior in high school, this was the number one song on the radio, yep, gay man song. From that era, another gay prosti song, was a big hit, “take a walk on the wild side“
the look of confusion on your face is priceless
And yes this song got lots of radio air play
Yes the song base on a ture event of the manager meeting a Transvestite in a Soho bar that was the seedy part of London West end
No, Lola is a real person all right... Lola is a serious dude... 🤣
Definitely beer goggles moment in the ol club lol
Nice to see you doing more song reactions. Missed seeing you discovering the classics
few decades ahead of it's time 😉
The original lyric was Coca-Cola but This was a version for the BBC who had banned product placement. Typical BBC banning a song because of advertising without having a clue what the song was about 😂
Loved the wry grins as you're getting it.
The original lyric was "Tastes Like Coca-Cola", but ironically Coke didn't like it so they changed it, and I just thought it was how the Champaigne was sweet as a cola? Anyways, was fun to watch your reaction. (Correction, as the reply below, not the Coke company but the BBC)😁
It wasn't the Coca Cola company that objected, it was the BBC! As the UK's publicly funded broadcaster, they had STRICT rules on not allowing advertising of any kind on their platforms, and that included mentioning any brand name. Hilariously, the whole subject matter of the song slipped past the censors without so much as a raised eyebrow, but Ray had to dash back from the US (IIRC) solely to re-record that one line, inserting the words 'cherry-cola' for the brand name!
@@papercup2517 Thank you for the correction, and yeah, I thought it's funny of the subject matter too...especially back then.
55 years ago! ❤❤❤
they say the inspiration for this song was the groups manager went to a party and started dancing with a lady-who wasn't, and they told him.