Songfacts®:

• This song is about how Great Britain struggled after World War II. The first verse is Winston Churchill (who was Britain's Prime Minister during the war) telling the people what will happen, and the second verse is England collapsing. The lyrics contain quotes from Churchill, such as: "Never was so much owed by so many to so few," "We shall fight on the beaches" and "This was their finest hour."
• Ray Davies' brother-in-law Arthur Anning was the inspiration for the "Arthur" of the album title. The Kinks were doing ambitious concept albums at the time, including The Kinks Are the Village Green Preservation Society (1968), and Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround Part One. Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) was intended as the soundtrack to a British TV program which never came to life. Anning moved to Australia in the mid-60's, but in the screenplay that was never produced, it is the fictional Arthur's son Derek and his wife and children who are emigrating to Australia, and the story is about Arthur spending their last day in England with them, while taking stock of his life. The point is that Derek is escaping the nightmare that represents the crumbling state of the postwar British middle-class, and it is forcing Arthur to take stock of his past. >>>

  Suggestion credit:
  TheGripester - Wellington, New Zealand
• This song uses a vintage Air Raid Siren, which was a common sound in England during World War II.