In 1970, homosexual acts were still outlawed in parts of the United Kingdom and would remain so for more than a decade. Yet two years before the nation even had its first official Gay Pride rally, the quintessentially British songwriter Ray Davies of the Kinks wrote “Lola,” a song that embraced a full spectrum of gender nonconformity. “Girls will be boys/and boys will be girls,” he sang, before emphasizing “it’s a mixed-up, muddled-up, shook-up world/except for Lola.”The song shot to No. 2 on the British singles chart, hit the Top 10 in the United States and went all the way to No. “I didn’t think the song would be so ahead of its time,” Davies said.

Source: New York Times December 01, 2020 18:11 UTC