Jesus Creed

Jesus Creed

Did you get educated by Bruce Springsteen?

posted by Scot McKnight | 11:12am Saturday November 28, 2009

Springsteen.jpgDavid Brooks, in the NYTimes, on being emotionally educated by Bruce Springsteen:

Like many of you, I went to elementary school, high school and college. I took such and such classes, earned such and such grades, and amassed such and such degrees.

But on the night of Feb. 2, 1975, I turned on WMMR in Philadelphia and became mesmerized by a concert the radio station was broadcasting. The concert was by a group I’d never heard of — Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. Thus began a part of my second education.

We don’t usually think of this second education. For reasons having to do with the peculiarities of our civilization, we pay a great deal of attention to our scholastic educations, which are formal and supervised, and we devote much less public thought to our emotional educations, which are unsupervised and haphazard. This is odd, since our emotional educations are much more important to our long-term happiness and the quality of our lives.



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Comments read comments(9)
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Michael Bauman

posted November 28, 2009 at 11:49 am


I learned a lot from “Long Walk Home.”



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Robby Olson

posted November 28, 2009 at 12:05 pm


The Boss taught me to play guitar for hours on end, to address tuning problems by turning it up, and when I forget the words, to yell, “Hey!” and call for a guitar solo–I’ve tried this in formal education… systematic theology professors don’t seem to get it.



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John Fea

posted November 28, 2009 at 2:13 pm


All well and good, but what has he really learned from Springsteen?
http://www.philipvickersfithian.com/2009/11/david-brookss-other-education-music-of.html



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bryonm

posted November 28, 2009 at 2:42 pm


The Boss has been my proctor for the past twenty-five years.



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Kevin McMillan

posted November 28, 2009 at 4:58 pm


“I had a juke-box graduate for a first mate
she couldn’t sail but she sure could sing”



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Carl Holmes

posted November 28, 2009 at 5:13 pm


I am pretty sure that Bruce was the primary emotional educator for Doug Pagitt. He talks of him often, and quite reverently.



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Rick Presley

posted November 28, 2009 at 6:12 pm


The Boss is after my time. I learned poetry at the feet of America, harmony from Chicago, and rhythm from the Doobie Brothers. I know my music teachers approved because we played these and other groups in pep Band. I love it when contemporary culture and formal education can stand side-by-side.



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Mich

posted November 28, 2009 at 7:28 pm


You want to be emotionally educated by the Boss?
Listen to Nebraska–if that doesn’t drive you to the Cross nothing will.
Peace.



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discokvn

posted November 28, 2009 at 9:55 pm


my first conscious exposure was the born in usa album… an album i thought was rather easy to poke fun of/at…
it was then i realized that this was the guy who did born to run and the river and then i discovered nebraska, his best record — though tunnel of love is a brave record, (not a great record, just brave)…
but as far as emotional education townes van zandt — man that guy could make you cry like a 2nd grade school boy!



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