Virtue Signaling isn’t meant to spark dialogue or affect change.
Its purpose is simple. Make the signaler feel better about themselves. That’s it.
One exception? In Hollywood, a well-timed Virtue Signal can let casting directors know you think like them. And, naturally, you’re open to new gigs.
Otherwise, it’s an empty gesture. And, on occasion, wrongheaded.
Moby found the latter out the hard way. The progressive musician, whose career exploded following the release of 1999’s “Play” album, recently tried to shame a classic rock group for a song he considers problematic.
“Lola,” by The Kinks.
The song follows a man falling for a trans woman in this “mixed up, muddled up, shook up world.” The lyrics make it clear that Lola isn’t what she appears to be on the surface.
Well, I’m not the world’s most masculine man
But I know what I am and I’m glad I’m a man
And so is Lola
La-la-la-la Lola
La-la-la-la Lola
The song has an upbeat vibe, and it’s clear the narrator will look back at his encounter with Lola fondly.
Moby disagrees, telling The Guardian he can’t listen to the track anymore.
I thought the lyrics were gross and transphobic. I like their early music, but I was really taken aback at how unevolved the lyrics are.
Dave Davies quickly shot down the comments.
“It was about real people and real people’s antics. There is nothing nasty about it,” he says. “People were quite shocked by it. But we loved it, and the world seemed to love it too. No one mentioned the word transphobia then. I don’t think the word existed.”
The rocker also had some words of caution for Moby.
“They are always quick to judge and make assumptions about others. It is very rigid thinking. They don’t know that there is always a backstory. It can be dangerous to smear people.”
Lead singer Ray Davies, according to his brother, had a more curt response.
“Who the f*** is Moby?”
Not all classic rockers shrug off woke attacks. The Rolling Stones infamously cut “Brown Sugar” from their live repertoire in 2021 after social justice scolds declared the song problematic for its slavery themes and sexualizing black women.
Jagger claimed the song, released in 1970, merely needed a time out. Guitarist Keith Richards suggested the band might play an “updated” version of the song in the future.
“Didn’t they understand this was a song about the horrors of slavery? But they’re trying to bury it. At the moment I don’t want to get into conflicts with all of this s***,” he said.
