Underneath the Arches (song)

"Underneath the Arches" is a 1932 popular song with words and music by Bud Flanagan, and additional lyrics by Reg Connelly. It was one of the most famous songs of the duo Flanagan and Allen.

According to a television programme broadcast in 1957, Bud Flanagan said that he wrote the song in Derby in 1927, and first performed it a week later at the Pier Pavilion, Southport. It refers to the arches of Derbys Friargate Railway Bridge and to the homeless men who slept there during the Great Depression.

The song has also been covered by Primo Scala, The Andrews Sisters, and Andy Russell in the United States. A well-known version in the United Kingdom was made by Max Bygraves. A sequel to the song Where the Arches Used To Be was sung by Flanagan and Allen in the film A Fire Has Been Arranged in which the arches are knocked down and flats built in their place.

The Primo Scala recording, with The Keynotes, was released by London Records as catalog number 238. The record first reached the Billboard charts on August 6, 1948, and lasted 16 weeks on the chart, peaking at #6.

The Andrews Sisters' recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 24490 (the flip side of their recording of You Call Everybody Darlin'). The record first reached the Billboard charts on August 27, 1948, and lasted 10 weeks on the chart, peaking at #10.

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