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Dusting Off The Vinyl:  Arthur (Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire) by The Kinks

By: Benny Fender


Following the second World War, Britain experienced tremendous shifts in lifestyle, wealth, and influence.  Arthur encapsulates the experience of empire's descent into commonwealth and frustration with the new, post-war lifestyle with catchy hooks and tongue-in-cheek lyrics.

The album is book ended by songs titled after prominent British monarchs - "Victoria" and "Arthur."  "Victoria" celebrates the the worldwide dominion of the Empire - "from the west to the east... Victoria was my Queen" using a triumphant melody, declaring the realm to be "land of hope and glory... and of my Victoria".  "Arthur", a hopeful but more reserved song remembers that line with the phrase "and your hope and glory have passed you by...", acknowledging that the situation had changed for Britain, and not for the better.

The tracks in between chronicle the sweeping changes from lavish turn of the century Empire to less-than-prosperous state.  As any historical reflection of the 20th Century must, the album discusses warfare, from the absurd "Yes Sir, No Sir, Permission to Breathe sir?" to the horrifying "Two soldiers fighting in a trench, one soldier glances up to see the son, and dreams of games he played when he was young, and then his friend calls out his name.  It stops his dreams and as he turns his head, a second later he is dead" to an irreverent civilian's perspective, "Mr. Beaverbrook says, we've got to save our tin, and all the garden gates and empty cans are going to make us win".

The album chronicles changes in the British lifestyle.   The apprehension but willful ignorance of the 20's and 30's is chronicled with the lyric "Seems like all the world is fighting, they're even talking of a war, but all the Russians and the Germans,and the Chinese do the fighting, the sun is shining, and we'll be driving".  Perspective changes later in the album with the surfer-sound song "Australia" as the narrator speaks of his desire to leave England and move to a place where there is "no drug addiction", "no class affliction" and where "we'll surf, like they do in the USA".

Postwar materialism leaves the narrator feeling hollow; in Shangra-La despite losing "lavatories in the backyard" and gaining a "tv set and a radio" he has a crushing fear and hollowness: he lives in a world where he is "too scared to complain because he's conditioned that way" and he has "reached [his] top and [he] just can't get any higher".  A world where "a mortgage hanging over" his head leads him to be "too scared to think about how insecure you are".

The Kinks seem to think life has lost it's luster with the removal a dominantly rural culture, now there is "nothing to say" about day to day life, and where they fondly remember those "young and innocent days".  They live in a world where material possessions have become a substitute for actually doing well: "she's bought a hat like Princess Marina... but she hasn't any food in the larder, nor anybody else in the street, but to look at her you'd think she was wealthy".

As discussed earlier, Arthur, the closing song, is a bit reserved, and rightly so -- since the album began, Britain has seen two World Wars, and a loss of meaningful life and of material wealth, but remains proud and still hopeful.  As the song declares, "Arthur, we love you and want to help you", remembering the glory of Britain, and thinking it is possible to change the nation for the better in the years to come.

At the end of a decade where the United States has seen its power, influence, and wealth deteriorate, Arthur provides a meaningful reflection on the fall of the previous superpower, and in many ways appears to be a reflection of current society.  I highly recommend doing whatever it is you do to most enjoy music, cranking up the hi-fi, and giving the album a whirl.