Last Night of the Proms

Having supposedly travelled from left to right in my politics, it is surprising how many of my opinions remain unchanged. I never did a 180 degree turn; I did not swing from one extreme to another as is the stereotype with converts. Rather, I discovered greater things which tempered and deepened my view of culture and politics (and of course continue to do so). Of the things that changed, I can think of only a handful: I no longer despise religion, I am much more suspicious of military interventions, I am no longer an egalitarian (born out in, say, my view on education), I now read books and listen to classical music instead of playing video games and listening to rock music, I am no longer an enthusiast for Britiain's membership of the EU. There are doubtless some others...

That may seem like quite few, and they certainly are important, but mostly they are a change in temperament, not necessarily policy. I supported nationalisation before; I still do. I was opposed to anti-Muslim types; I still am. I thought we should build more council houses; I still do. I didn't like Thatcherism, so-called; I still don't. I did and still do care deeply about the environment. I've always been opposed to drug legalisation. (I could go on...)

I was also patriotic before, in however vague a sense; in fact, whereas my patriotism used to encompass an enthusiasm for modern Britain, my patriotism now does not. In some ways one could say I'm less patriotic, as I see much of what I love about England in quick decline. That frightening but essential strength which compels a person to fight for their country has been extinguished in our society, and it has been extinguished in me.

One thing I disliked when I was left wing and dislike still is the Last Night of the Proms. Of course reasons change. I disliked it then because it was both elitist and old (classical music) and also populist in the worst sense (jingoist in other words). Now my tastes have changed I don't mind the music, though I can't say I get excited about it compared to the rest of the Proms season. If one looks at the Last Night of the Proms programmes from several decades ago, one will find much more substantial works (notably, there was always one concerto).

However, what particularly irks me is the daft and unthinking way that the crowds jubilantly sing, 'Britannia rule the waves...' in 2019. And it shows just how unthinking the whole thing is that the lefty EU-philes sing along too. I watch it and think, what delusions they have. What waves do we rule? Is this not some parody of patriotism -- 'the love that asks no questions', in the words of that silly hymn (which Holst himself rightly disliked).

Of course, it looks like the Last Night of the Proms is becoming more about the EU now than Britain. This is much more fitting for modern Britain, and once the transformation is complete it might finally make people realise that the world of Rule, Brittania! and Land of Hope and Glory is gone, and that their patriotism has little depth. The crowd will be singing 'Freude! Freude!' while waving an EU and, now inevitably, a rainbow flag. The preceding pieces will no doubt be songs from alleged musicals like Hamilton. Rule, Britannia! may still be included, and I fear a dwindling minority with their Union Jack flags will still be singing along unthinkingly. Maybe even the EU-philes and relentless modernisers will still be singing it too. It is the strange thing about songs -- one of the most powerful art forms -- that seldom does anyone pay much attention to the words.