There are moments when I suddenly realise how old I am, and one was during the closing ceremony of the Paralympics last Sunday. The pride that had gradually swelled within me during this long patriotic summer was extinguished at a stroke by the performance of the rock band Coldplay. Coldplay may be one of the most successful and popular bands in the world, and its leader may be married to Gwyneth Paltrow, but its grim music filled me with despondency and bewilderment. It seems to have been the underlying aim of all four Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies, from Danny Boyle’s onwards, to redefine Britishness for the world, and it may be that rock bands are an important ingredient in this. But the British Games have also prided themselves on their ‘inclusivity’, and I have seldom felt more excluded from anything than from the two closing ceremonies, each being a celebration of contemporary pop music, that most dubious and ephemeral of Britain’s national accomplishments.
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