The important stuff

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Ritterskoop
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The important stuff

#1 Post by Ritterskoop » Thu Oct 25, 2007 12:05 am

It is time.

To get to the important stuff.

Is Lola a man, or what?




You know, in the Kinks song.

"I'm not the world's most masculine man, but I know I'm a man, and I'm glad I am, and so is Lola."

Is it "I'm glad I am, and so is Lola (a man)"

or

"I'm glad I am, and so is Lola (glad)"



I've embraced this mystery for years, and it can stay that way. But it's something different from gender or sex myths, or whatever that was all about.

Ha. I guess it's not.
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TheCalvinator24
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#2 Post by TheCalvinator24 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:12 am

I am what I am,
And what I am is a man,
And so is Lola.
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. —Albus Dumbledore

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TheCalvinator24
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#3 Post by TheCalvinator24 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:23 am

Okay, either I've misheard those lyrics forever, or all the lyrics sites are wrong.

The lyrics on the sites don't fit the rhythm of the song, but that isn't dispositive.

Given the context of the entire song, I have no doubt that Lola is a transvestite.
It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities. —Albus Dumbledore

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a1mamacat
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#4 Post by a1mamacat » Thu Oct 25, 2007 8:26 am

TheCalvinator24 wrote:I am what I am,
And what I am is a man,
And so is Lola.
Coming above the Dumbledore quote, this is just sooooo ironic..

Im just sayin'
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KillerTomato
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Re: The important stuff

#5 Post by KillerTomato » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:10 pm

Ritterskoop wrote:It is time.

To get to the important stuff.

Is Lola a man, or what?




You know, in the Kinks song.

"I'm not the world's most masculine man, but I know I'm a man, and I'm glad I am, and so is Lola."

FWIW, I've always heard this as:

Well, I'm not the world's most masculine man
But I know what I am in the plan
I'm a man, so was Lola...

Regardless, the song is definitely about a transvestite. I remember reading that Ray Davies wrote the song after the Kinks' band manager spent the night dancing with a transvestite in a club.
There is something wrong in a government where they who do the most have the least. There is something wrong when honesty wears a rag, and rascality a robe; when the loving, the tender, eat a crust while the infamous sit at banquets.
-- Robert G. Ingersoll

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tanstaafl2
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Re: The important stuff

#6 Post by tanstaafl2 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:36 pm

KillerTomato wrote: Regardless, the song is definitely about a transvestite. I remember reading that Ray Davies wrote the song after the Kinks' band manager spent the night dancing with a transvestite in a club.
Shoulda had my dad ask Ray Davies when he had the chance. My father used to be the stage manager for all the Atlanta Peachtree Barbershop Chorus productions years ago and for a time they occurred in the Fox theatre. One night he met Ray Davies and the Kinks during their show there while he was preparing for his show a few days later.

Of course he had no clue who he was. Not exactly my Dad's kinda music, if you know what I mean.

Now the Suntones, them he would know!

And as for Lola, I am pretty sure the song intended to indicate she was fully equipped, so to speak.
If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
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Some people are like a Slinky. They are not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs...
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ghostjmf
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#7 Post by ghostjmf » Thu Oct 25, 2007 3:52 pm

Lola is a man. In pretty uncomfortable clothing, I'd imagine. I kinda thought the song was crystal clear (&, amazingly enough for the 60s, the only lyric change forced on the US version is that in the hit-in-England version of the song, "you drink champagne & it tastes just like Coca-Cola", whereas in the American version "it tastes just like cherry Cola".

Which is, in a way, even funnier. The Kinks did get to do their own rewrite/resing for the US censors.).

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Ritterskoop
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#8 Post by Ritterskoop » Thu Oct 25, 2007 5:42 pm

ghostjmf wrote:Lola is a man. In pretty uncomfortable clothing, I'd imagine. I kinda thought the song was crystal clear (&, amazingly enough for the 60s, the only lyric change forced on the US version is that in the hit-in-England version of the song, "you drink champagne & it tastes just like Coca-Cola", whereas in the American version "it tastes just like cherry Cola".

Which is, in a way, even funnier. The Kinks did get to do their own rewrite/resing for the US censors.).
I'd always heard "cherry cola" and recently I heard "Coca-cola," and worried they had changed it to make money. This history makes me feel better. Except I want the cherry cola back, as it is my favorite kind after vanilla cola, which only works from a fountain.
If you fail to pilot your own ship, don't be surprised at what inappropriate port you find yourself docked. - Tom Robbins
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At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. - attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

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#9 Post by melleon » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:31 pm

more importantly,,, is Yoda a man?

Weird Al Fan

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T_Bone0806
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#10 Post by T_Bone0806 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:45 pm

"..But I know what I am and I'm glad I'm a man and so is Lola".

Ray Davies has never elaborated. The ambiguity is intentional. It seems rather obvious to me, though...

"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 and talked like a man"

"Girls will be boys, and boys will be girls
It's a mixed up, muddled up, shook up world"


Lola is a guy.
"#$%&@*&"-Donald F. Duck

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T_Bone0806
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#11 Post by T_Bone0806 » Thu Oct 25, 2007 7:48 pm

melleon wrote:more importantly,,, is Yoda a man?

Weird Al Fan
Yes. That's not his light saber he's hiding under that robe.
"#$%&@*&"-Donald F. Duck

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Ritterskoop
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#12 Post by Ritterskoop » Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:05 pm

T_Bone0806 wrote:

Lola is a guy.
I think so, too. I just wanted something different to talk about.
If you fail to pilot your own ship, don't be surprised at what inappropriate port you find yourself docked. - Tom Robbins
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At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you. - attributed to Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.

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