Dear Bobby Darin,
December 20th of this year marks 40 years you've been gone; 40 years since the world lost the greatest musician known to man. Although you have no way of obtaining this, I still feel it to be in myself to write this to you, as a way of remembering.
It was only last July that I found you. It was a silly project I was working on; I was putting together a video with every top song in America since the top songs were being named. I stumbled upon "Mack the Knife," and although it wasn't love at first sight, it was the beginning of something beautiful.
Mr. Darin, your music has captured my soul in a way I can't describe. Nothing can calm me down like hearing your silky voice croon in my ears. I spend literally hours just listening to the sound of your voice and the beautiful orchestration behind it. Of course, not every one of your songs is like that; after all, you got your start with rock and roll and ended with folk rock.
Although I love every song you have ever sang, the ones that get me the most are when you sing those slow, emotional songs. You sing with such emotion that I speculate on it for hours, writing stories based on them and picking them out of the piano and burying them in my heart as I listen to them on repeat for hours. They're so magical that I can't help but cry sometimes as the notes ring out in my head.
You are terribly underrated. Your whole back story is so inspiring; a brilliant, illegitimate child from the slums of Brooklyn to go on and become a legend before you were even 25. You were so determined to be successful because you knew you could die at any moment because of your rheumatic heart, which was your tragic ending. But yet your whole life unravels a story of a man who never, ever gave up. You slipped and you fell, yet you managed to overcome whatever was thrown at you. I admire you for that.
As I listen to your music, I can just feel you grow wiser and older. You were so fantastic, and as time progressed I could feel the things you felt and I have to wonder what you were thinking as you sang the songs. It's honestly astonishing that I can feel that through a simple two-minute song.
Did you know you've been inducted into multiple hall of fames and put on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since you died? I wish you could be alive to see all the honors still given to you now that were sadly overlooked while you were still around. Your son has a family of his own now and still promotes you, just in case you wanted to know.
The last song you ever recorded before that fateful night was "I Can't Live a Day Without You." I can say the same for you.
Sadly, music has degraded since and kids don't know your name. I do the best I can to tell everyone about you, and hopefully somebody will find the same joy I found in you. You're always there to lift me up when I feel like there's no hope left for me and to calm me down when the nobody will listen.
But don't worry, Mr. Darin; as long as I am alive, your legacy will live on.
Your fan,
Emily, 14 years old
