How Cool is Your History Teacher?

What do you get when you cross the passion exhibited by Robin Williams in “Dead Poet’s Society,” with encyclopedic knowledge of U.S. History, with a pop culture scholar? You get Jim Cullen. For all of you scratching your heads out there, he is not related to tween deity Edward Cullen, he was my 10th grade U.S. History teacher. A former professor at both Brown and Harvard, he is now spending his time rewriting history curricula and just being generally visionary. Oh yeah; I forgot the best part, he wrote a book about Bruce Springsteen.

So when I thought about writing a review of the final Bruce Springsteen concert at Giants Stadium, and heard he was there, I realized only a moron would not turn a Bruce Springsteen chronicler and general pop culture prophet to write about it. After just a few minutes of groveling, I convinced him to do it, and below is what I received, hours later (all that brilliance, and he still turns things around faster than that lame English teacher you had back in high school).

I could talk about the rousing version of “The Rising.” I could express my joy at seeing him pick up the sign that said, “Bald Guys Can Dance,” and then choosing a fellow of my general demographic description as a partner during the beloved climax of “Dancing in the Dark” (take that, Courtney Cox!). I could express my happiness at the turn-on-dime transition from the old jazzy chestnut “Kitty’s Back” to the new Celtic-flavored “This American Land.”

But for me the best moment of the final show at Giants Stadium last night happened beforehand, when my wife and I were stuck in the bottleneck near the parking lot entrance. I imagined all the cars, like metal filings, drawn to this point from a concentric circle miles and miles around. All these people choosing to come here for no other reason than they simply wanted to. All this pollution and commerce and anticipation and love converging on a single point. But that all this — this show, this night, and all the other shows on other nights — began with a solitary figure, alone, sitting at a piano, perhaps, but certainly at some point working with nothing more than a pen and a spiral notebook. And that he made something, from the workings of neurons in his head, that resulted in all this. The spectacular power of a human imagination. Astonishing.

So the next time you’re sitting in History class, just think about how cool your teacher could be. By the by, for all of you wondering how much extra credit this is worth, I do not currently have him as a teacher, I am actually just that big a fan. Below are some of my favorite less-glorified Springsteen tunes (live versions).

Land of Hopes and Dreams – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (YSI)

Spirit in the Night – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (YSI)

Jersey Girl – Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band (YSI)