CHLOE MORSE
Proposal
For my final experiment, I decided to write an open letter to David Bowie. More specifically, it is a “thank you” letter for all of the invaluable moments and adventures I experienced through his music, and the lessons he taught me. In my other two experiments, I indirectly showed my appreciation for his musical prowess and impact through a piece of fan fiction and a dating website—both of which required me to adopt the voice of others. Now, I want to directly “speak” to Bowie in a personal and vulnerable manner. Writing the letter gives me the opportunity to use my own voice, and go wherever I want with the piece due to this medium’s lack of structure. Furthermore, I believe that composing the letter on a typewriter will allow me to more carefully consider the sentences I create and add a personal touch to the presentation. There is no “ideal” audience for this experiment, as showing appreciation for someone you admire is something everyone can understand and relate to. Perhaps other Bowie fans that view the letter can more strongly connect to my experience, or reflect upon how he uniquely effected them. Regardless, I hope that anyone that reads the letter understands the feelings and motivation behind it, and might feel inspired to write their own thank you letter to someone they care about.
When planning out the course of my experiments, I intentionally saved this piece for last. Before I wrote the letter, I wanted the chance to further reflect on the way Bowie impacted me,
digging deeper into why my connection to him is so meaningful. Having reached this last experiment, I feel like I have gained a profound understanding and am ready to write to Bowie.
Genre Analysis and Research
The key aspect of an open letter is that it’s public. It is not intended to be privately mailed to the recipient, meant for their eyes only. In an article titled "The Art of the Open Letter," the writer states, “When done right, an open letter isn’t simply for the person to whom it’s addressed” (Rowlands). This statement referenced a specific open letter from a mother to her child, continuing that “Lindsay’s positive, loving letter is for other mothers — especially new ones — and their children, too” (Rowlands). I feel this applies to my own letter, as I want others to be able to relate to those special moments or relationships that they have.
Letter-writing in general is a powerful mode of communication. One great feature of letters is that they have “striking irregularities and lack of discipline” (Binkley, 342) and “no formal restrictions may be imposed” (Binkley, 346). They don’t follow a particular format—they allow freedom and flexibility where one can say anything they please. Due to the conversational element of letters, we experience “the sound of the words in our ears, and the image of personal manner and gesture before our eyes” (Binkley, 346). Another key element of letter-writing is that it gives one the ability to “convey meaning that can feel intangible...in a way that can be persevered” (Piedmont Healthcare). Furthermore, today’s scarcity of personal letters makes them that much more meaningful (Troyka, 229). In a way, writing a letter to someone feels like traveling back to a time when communication was not as easy at it was today, so what you say is increasingly valuable.
When looking for models, I did a search for “David Bowie open letter,” and found a really great example. It is a “A thank you letter to David Bowie from a palliative care doctor.” I plan to incorporate several aspects of this letter into my own writing. First of all, there are many
thank you’s. There are so many things that I am grateful to Bowie for, it would be impossible to just thank him for one. The writer also connects personal moments he and his friends had to specific Bowie songs, describing how the presence of his music made those memories better. He also thanks Bowie for broader movements that him and his music inspired and enriched, even impacting the writer’s work as a palliative care doctor. At its core, the letter is sentimental, personal, and vulnerable, which is exactly the tone I aim to evoke in my writing.
Another major piece of my project was my decision to write the letter using a typewriter. When one uses a typewriter, he or she must more carefully think about the words that they put to paper, as nothing can be erased. One cannot backtrack, changing words or restructuring sentences. That would require starting from the beginning. This seems to make the process more meaningful and careful. I asked my mom what her experience was like writing on a typewriter to which she responded, “Difficult.” I plan to embrace this challenge of not writing on paper or a computer, and hopefully gain a unique experience of composition.
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Bibliography
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Binkley, Harold C. “Essays and Letter-Writing.” PMLA, vol. 41, no. 2, 1926, pp. 342–361., doi:
10.2307/457439.
Rowlands, Cheri. “The Art of the Open Letter.” The Daily Post, 22 Dec. 2017,
dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/08/13/open-letter/.
Taubert, Mark. “A Thank You Letter to David Bowie from a Palliative Care Doctor.” BMJ
Supportive & Palliative Care, 15 Jan. 2016, blogs.bmj.com/spcare/2016/01/15/a-thank- you-letter-to-david-bowie-from- a-palliative-care-doctor/? utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialorganic&utm_campaign=conversation&utm_co ntent=bowiedoc_150116.
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“Therapeutic Benefits of Writing Letters.” Piedmont Healthcare, Piedmont, www.piedmont.org/ living-better/therapeutic- benefits-of-writing-letters.
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Troyka, Linn. “Writing Personal Letters.” Handbook for Writers, vol. 1, Simon & Schuster, 1987, 1-433. Saylor, https://resources.saylor.org/wwwresources/archived/site/textbooks/ Handbook%20for%20Writers.pdf.
Sketch
The letter will begin with a simple thank you to Bowie for the experiences that his music has given me. In this first section, I want to include an anecdote about the way his music helped me through high school—an incredibly awkward and solitary time—especially since that is when I first started getting into his music. My most vivid memories include going home after school and dancing to his music, fueled by feelings of pure frustration and stress. I would dance to the point where I was winded and warm with sweat. At times, when the music ended, I’d collapse on the floor and stare up at the chipped paint on my ceiling, thinking of other places I could be.
Then, I will transition into describing these “adventures” that I have gone on in his music. For example, “I shouted for Major Tom as he drifted off into space.” It might evoke the feeling people get when they see a film or read a book, entering into a different universe and becoming part of a new story. The list of these moments will be intentionally long—perhaps even a little too long—to emphasize the frequency of these escapades.
After this section, I will write a number of smaller, isolated thank you’s that further convey my appreciation and personal connection to Bowie. I want to include an anecdote about my dad, since our mutual liking of his music is part of why my relationship to him is so meaningful.
I also remembered something I wrote in an old school notebook during class—which, I unfortunately was not able to uncover. It said, “The speed of life seems ever-so untrue, as I get up to rock and roll with you.” This somewhat poetic quote pulls from two of Bowie’s songs, “Speed of Life” and “Rock ’N’ Roll With Me.” I will use this line as the last sentence of my letter, before signing off.
Sample
Dear David,
I’d like to thank you, sincerely, for all the immensely wonderful adventures that you have taken me on. Your music introduced me to places I’d never dreamed of going and people I thought I’d never meet. In high school, as I grappled with the ever-present growing pains of adolescence, as I avoided crowds and went straight home on Fridays, you brought me an implacable sense of joy within my solitude. I’ll never forget those moments I had, dancing in my room to the sound of your voice. It sent my whole body into a wild frenzy, until my hair was wildly misshapen and my entire being was warm with the heat of movement.
With you, I boogied to the music of an other-worldly starman, I shouted for Major Tom as he drifted off into space, I partied in a post-apocalyptic world destroyed by restless youth, I became a hero just for a day, I had fantasies of life on Mars, I bought a wham-bam ticket to Suffragette City, I experienced the glorious gift of sound and vision, I faced the strange and changing world around me, I walked the streets of England with the kings of oblivion and met the man who sold the world, I swayed to a magic dance with the goblin king of the labyrinth—just to name a few.
Thank you for bringing me along.
And thank you for reminding me of car rides with my dad, like the time we got deplorably lost in the mountains of Vermont, but still sang about “something in the air.”
Thank you for teaching me to be bold and to unforgivably embrace my eccentricities. For showing me that you can be anyone you want, but you can still be yourself.
As I sit in my 8x14 room, listening to a lengthy playlist of your songs, it reminds me that your music imposed something grand onto my small world. I can close my eyes and suddenly the walls of this box fall away, filling the blank space with lyrics that are magical, whimsical, and beautiful all at once.
As I once wrote in an old algebra notebook: the speed of life seems ever-so untrue, as I get up to rock and roll with you.
With love,
Chloe
Typewriter Attempt #1
Typewriter Attempt #2
Reflection
Writing this letter was a very emotional experience; the process allowed me to reflect on many special moments of my youth that were obscured by overwhelming difficult moments. The second paragraph proved specifically enjoyable to write, as I recalled going on all these “adventures.” For example, I remembered taking the bus home after a particularly bad day at school, and listening to “Sound and Vision.” As I looked out of the shaky window, I thought that the sky looked rather blue that day, as Bowie sang the lyrics “Blue, blue, electric blue,” and it put a smile on my face. The most valuable part of this experience was reminiscing on small moments like these that hid in the back of my mind. If I fully realized the letter, I would incorporate more of those “small moments,” adding even more detail to provide a clearer image in the reader’s head.
Additionally, using the typewriter turned out to be very fun and interesting. As I typed, I was hyperaware of every letter and word going on the page, since the process was extremely slow and careful. This caused me to extensively think about everything I was saying and what it meant. I included both drafts to showcase the extensive difficulty of the process—even my second draft had a few typos in it. However, I feel that writing the letter on the typewriter was more about the value of the process rather than the finished product.
Even the process of “letter-writing” itself was very sentimental. It had been a while since I actually wrote a letter to someone that was carefully thought out. I never fully articulated my love for the people closest to me, and this assignment inspired me to do so. My past birthday cards to loved ones always felt emotionally superficial, and I now realize how effective and meaningful letters can be when they include fully expressed thoughts and feelings. Initially, I was planning on making a video essay with music and visuals of Bowie’s performances, but I really liked the quietness of the letter—it somehow felt more genuine. Reading over the piece, I think I effectively communicated the special relationship I had with Bowie. Although it is not fully fleshed out, it is still enough to understand my connection to him.