hey. i was wondering what other people listened to (or would have) whilst reading the best bits in DH.


I put my iPod on shuffle most of the time, but when i could sense things cooming i'd put certain ones on.


When I read the fight thing at hogwarts, I was imagining it being in slow motion so i decided to put some really sad snow patrol on. Then when our hero kills old Voldy, i put Mambo No. 5 on, because thats the happiest song I could find!


how about you?

You managed to read and listen to music? Didn't it distract you at all?

I didn't have anything to detract from the fact that I wanted to understand every last sentence. I shut myself away in a quiet room and switched off my hearing for the best part of 12 hours. If anyone had played music in my house, they'd be in hospital about now

I could normally have music or the TV on when I read, but I cut any distractions off so I could read in peace. Actually I did have the TV on at first, after a few pages I hit the mute button, a page later I just shut it off.

I usually have music on when I read, but I decided to read HP in silence this time; I didn't want to have to keep changing the CD when reached the end.

I usually have music on when I read, but I didn't do it while reading Deathly Hallows just because I didn't want to be distracted by anything.
But, even though I didn't listen, certain songs jumped into my head while reading. Or...well...certain soundtracks did.
Throughout the whole book I was hearing Never an Absolution from the Titatic Soundtrack, just because it had this final sounding note to it.
When I read the ending bit over again when Harry was striding into the forest a song got stuck in my head too. You know in The Lion King when Simba is climbing up that rock to become king. That song that's playing in the background was playing in my head when Harry walked to his death.
Isn't it corny?

I like to listen to music as I read, I don't really listen to it actually, but rather use it as a tool to help block out other distracting noises. I usually pick songs that are soft, quiet and rhythmic that are easy to focus on subconsciously, and help drown out any external noise. I usually pick Enya for reading like this, and nothing changed for DH.

My specific song choice this time was "Rose's Theme" by Enya, which was for the movie Titanic. Its wordless, it has a familiar tune, and is quite relaxing. I put that song on repeat and used it to drown out anything that might ave distracted me in the ten hours it took me to read the book.

~Albus

I did not listen to music as I read it. However, at certain parts of the book, "The End of the World" by Skeeter Davis popped into my head. Se gap lai nhe.

I didn't listen to any music whilst I was reading... But I have a thing for All these things that I've done by the Killers as my personal theme song for the last book.

I didn't listen to any music while I was reading - how can you, it's distracting?

But when I had a break, I listened to:

Fall Out Boy - Thanks For The Memories
Nathasa Beddingfield - Soul Mate

Both rather topical now I think of it. There were others but I won't bore you.

~ Potters Phoenix ~

Normally I listen to music when I read - I did with HBP. But I thought as this was the last book in the series it deserved by utmost attention and I really wanted to take in every word so I didn't want anything to distract me.

I think the song 'I'll Be Missing You' by Puff Daddy is quite appropriate for this book. Kinda fits, with all the deaths.

And also Smokers Outside The Hospital Doors by The Editors. It's a really sad song and also makes me think of HP, no idea why.

I also thought of 'I Will Survive' when Voldemort doesn't manage to kill Harry

I love Enya! her music is so beautiful! Only Time has to be one of my favourites...that would be a good song for when Harry and the others are about to fight LV an the Death Eaters!

When it was "The Princes Tale" I was listening to Close to the Flame by HIM
and also Love Said No by HIM

A lot of HIM songs remind me of Severus maybe because the lyrics are full of sorrow and how painful love is.

When it was the final battle with Voldemort I listened to Karma by Alicia Keys
"What goes around comes around" the song goes and it did for Voldemort.

At the end of the book I was listening to The Word Is Outside by Ghosts.

It's werid how those songs all suite the situation lol! I must admit I did put those HIM songs on deliberately which didn't help as it made me cry even more over Snape's death!

I didn't have any music on while I was reading DH, nor TV or anything else with the potential to be distracting, and I've done the same with the previous HP books upon my first reading as well - excluding the first two, because my first reading of those came from my fourth-grade teacher to the our class. Bless her - the one who introduced me to Harry Potter. I shall revere her forever. And she was a wonderful teacher besides. I went out and bought the first two books after she'd finished the first, and I brought the second in to follow along with her when she read it. I luff her. <3

Ahem. But I'm getting off-topic. I was essentially a hermit during the reading of DH, as I have been during the previous first readings (again, excluding the first two), in my room, door shut, lying on my bed, TV off, no music. I like to focus ALL my attention on the reading when I bring home a new HP book. No distractions. No interruptions. Fully, completely concentrated on reading.

Well I must have complete silence(nearly) while reading so that's that but my sister was listening to The Thizzle Dance rather loudly while I reading the Battle of Hogwarts so that was annoying. But after I had finnished with the book and was feeling sad I turned on my iPod to try and cheer myself up but unluckily the first song that was on shuffle was The Ghost Of You by My Chemical Romance, which, if you don't know is an icredibly sad/uplifting song and it really put the series' end into perspective for me. I recommend listening to it....

But I'd have to say that if I could choose a song to represent the Book as a whole I'd have say The Steward Of Gondor from The Return of the King. The words, to me, just speak of a nearly hopeless journey

"Home is behind
The world ahead.
And there are many paths to tread.
Through shadow,
To the edge of night
Until the stars are all alight

Mist and shadow
Cloud and shade
All shall fade
All shall...fade."

While at Barnes & Noble, in the parking lot line waiting to get our books, my friends and I all sang "It ends Tonight" by The All-American Rejects at the top of our lungs. It was actually really sad and we all started crying. Then we sand "Will you remember me" by Sarah McLaughlin.

i didn't listen to any music whilst reading, but the day after, "Time Won't Let Me Go" by The Bravery came on in my car when i was driving to wotk and Snape popped into my mind, and i literally starteds bawling and had to shut it off. I'm so saddned for Snape...

And while waiting in the parking lot at Barnes and Noble, my friend and i were blasting "Carry on Wayward son" by Kansas while dancing on m car, and now that i think about it that song really reminds me of Harry, at the end.

I am posting all over the place tonight!

I, too, demanded complete silence while reading the books. But I don't think I'll ever forget the first song I heard after reading Book 7. It's called, "The World Spins Madly On" by The Weepies and it was downright eerie how friggin perfect it was and I reccomend it to all. You'll understand when you hear it for sure!

Some where in the book the phrase 'Best of You' was used. This brought to mind the song "Best of You' by the Foo Fighters and I thought that it was pretty appropriate. I don't remember who it was referring to but I am re-reading at the moment and I will post when I come across it.

I didn't listen to any music while I read it the first time but I am re-reading it now and I read the first chapter on the way to work and I was listening to my Ipod at the same time. The first three songs that were played:

So I Am: Belinda Emmett
Less than Perfect: Belinda Emmett
and
When I hated Him (Don't Tell Me): Bijou Phillips.

I can't believe some people are saying it would be distracting!


It really wasn't. and if you concentrate really hard and your'e a lot in the book, you can block it out but still hear it.


Try it quite quiet though.

I find it distracting to listen to music while I'm reading. However, I did have the TV on some of the time in the background when I felt like something bad was going to happen in the book.

I can't read and have any sound around me it distracts me and i can't concentrate on the story properly. On saturday night parents were talking so decided to sit in car for two hours

I didn't have anything on while reading, but after, in memory of Fred, I put on Billie Holiday/I'll be seeing you...lol

i always have my radio on in the background and the weirdest most ironic thing happened. when i got to the bit when harry was walking 'to his death' the song I'll be missing you (the P Diddy version) came on the radio and i got really emotional - and slightly freaked out!

i love those moments though, theyr sort of weird and freaky but nice at the same time. i think that song sort of sums up my feelings towards the deaths of the people in the books and to the 'end of an era'

Chrissiep i think that I'll be seeing you was a good choice of song and i love the little song that Anduril posted, it does descibe it well and its moving too!

I always have music playing. A lot of times I have my computer's iTunes, a radio upstairs, and my iHome playing at the same time. Music just makes me feel good.

So, for HPDH, I really wanted something that would be good. Because it's the last time I'd ever read Harry Potter and not know what was going to happen. It was the last time the Harry Potter magic would be new.

So I downloaded the Hedwig theme, and the Foreign Visitors Arrive Theme from GoF, and put them in one playlist and put that on repeat.

Haha, I know how stupid this is going to sound to a lot of people, but I had Harry Potter music and it was great! Ohh, and when Hedwig died, I was so upset because I was listening to Hedwig's theme!

After I finished the book I played "Don't Stop Believing" (Journey) repeatedly. It just seemed to fit.

I'm listening to iTunes right now and listening to Golden Train, by Justin Nozuka and it's amking me think of the Dursleys choices.

[i]tommorow if a golden train came to take you away, would you go, would you stay?[i]

It makes me think of the Order as a golden tsrain, giving the dursleys a choice to get away to a better place, away from voldemort. search it on youtube and you'll see what I mean!

I really agree with Anduril here. I thought of Lord of the rings music alot when I was reading the book and I thought that if it was in the background when I was reading it I would have definitely cried even harder than I did.This song especially is a really good choice, because it's really haunting and beautiful and I think that definitely suits the story well.

*Laurel

Wizard rock of course! Harry and the Potters specifically. =P

First read-through I didn't have any music on, not because I find it distracting but because my kids were watching TV as I read. I did find the theme that I think plays in the movies as "Hedwig's Theme" running through my mind as I read. Now, as I've been re-reading the Deathly Hallows, I've enjoyed having the music from another great Brit -- Paul McCartney's Memory Almost Full -- playing. Some of the themes on several of the tracks -- from Ever Present Past to See Your Sunshine to The End of the End -- just seemed to dovetail nicely with this final, brilliant book.

I listened to the sweet sound of nothing. I can't have music or anything distracting me when I'm reading or doing homework or studying or ... whatever. I was concentrating on the book ... I wouldn't be paying attention to the music anyway. So what's the point in wasting electricity by listening to music if I'm not going to listen to it, right?

Like a fellow poster I had listened to FOB's Thnks fr th Mmrs.

I also listened to Lifehouse. Specifically 'This Time.' I thought that song fit rather well.

Let's see... Well when I read, if I have music playing, it's usually classical. I remember having the Pride and Prejudice soundtrack playing, along with the Sense and Sensibility soundtrack as well. I also remember some Bach and Pachebel. I'm sure I listened to more that were various genres, but I was so entranced in the book that I payed little attention to the music coming from my earphones.

I was playing some KoRn stuff, to get that dark sense and energetic beats, which would suit the book. Also, the band also play in a bassy tone, and that suit better when i'm reading.

One thing i wonder is whether are they going to get somekind of rock band to do soundtrack for Harry Potter movies?

Hmm...

Game songs. Yeah, the BGMs and all. I always so in love with RPG BGMs, and they just fit well with the novel!! =D Also balladic songs... So incredibly perfect with the scene when Snape cried over Lily's letter. The song is Yasashiku Kimi wa Hohoende Ita by Tomoyo Mitani (trans: You Were Smiling Softly). It's perfect~ I cried and cried and cried.

Some Harry Potter tracks also got mixed up in my playlist.

i do listen to music when reading i love music
but during the first reading of book 7, i certainly shut myself up in my room wihout any distractions
i wanted to concentrate coz this is the last and my most awaited book
i really don't want to get distracted even from the tiniest noise nah nah can not be

i was listenning to my favourite bands the red jumpsuit apparatus ,fall out boys ,panic at the disco,boys like girls and sum 41 on my ipod and lucky as i am my ipod didn't die of batteries it was the first time i had it 10 hours on

Oh Geex I was waiting for a topic like this xDD

I didnt read the book while listening to muisc but I read it a second time and I choosen the songs

When Voldemort killed Harry I put on 'Famous Last Words' from My Chemical Romace [while Dumbledore was talking to Harry]

When the battle was going on at Hogwarts I put Beathe Into Me by Red
Snapes memory I put on When your gone by Avril Lavigne [ dont ask]

I also putted The Lord of the Rings theme song on when Hermione and Harry where ..well mostly Hermione was battle that werid snake I thought it was funny

I usually can't read without music. I'm more audio inclined but I love to read so I would never listen to an audio book. Listening to music allows me to make more connections to the book when I listen to those songs again. So I have a huge playlist playing on my computer, something like 26 hours.

It was odd, it seemed that the music I listened to sort of set the mood for the certain chapters. Korn's freak on a leash was playing near the beginning during the seven potters chapter. And this is odd, but a huge coincidence Aerosmith Living on the edge was playing during the epilogue. Those are really the only two I remember because they were so in tune with the tone that it really relaxed it, you know?

I basically only read while listening to music, for some reason I just like it better. I only listened to instrumental music while reading Deathly Hallows though. The main soundtrack that I listened to was The Fountain Soundtrack (composed by Clint Mansell, performed by Kronos Quartet and Mogwai). I also listened to various other works by Clint Mansell (quite a few from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack). I found the atmosphere perfect for DH and it really made it more dramatic and it made me cry quite a bit.

I think this is a really good question, because when we read books, especially the HP books, we use our imagination to picture the scene; and sometimes when we listen to music, the music alone can encourage our imagination !!

Two songs in particular encourage me to visualise the HP stories; and bring images from the stories flashing through my mind in glorious technicolor ... its like being at the movies !!!

For HPDH: ZOMBIE by THE CRANBERRIES ... a song from the 1990s ... as the song starts I visualise flashes of the main characters faces; the song changes powerfully and I visualise Hogwarts being pummelled with curses from the death eaters; and I picture the fury of the fiendfyre; then the song slows down again and the line '... its not my family ... in your head ... in my head ... they're still fighting ...' makes me think of Harry entering the forest with the resurrection stone and being surrounded by James, Lily, Sirus & Remus!! Great song!

For HPGOF: AQUARIUS / LET THE SUN SHINE IN by FIFTH DIMENSION ... a song from the Flower Power Era!!! This song for me creates images of the yule ball; I can see everyone having a good time and dancing away ... then I see Ron sulking in the background; there is a wonderful change in the music towards the end and the words 'theres the sunshine' ... and in my mind I visualise Ron seeing Hermione properly and fully for the first time ... as the true love of his life! I was really disappointed when WB didnt use this song in the film for GOF !!!

Ah music! A magic beyond all we do here! A.P.W.B.D

oh my gosh! i recntly found out that just by fate, me and dan radcliffe were listening to the same artist (sigur rós) wen reading DH!!!! ahhh its like we were ment to be together!!! I swear im not crazy =]

As I'm from six members family,I actually need some noise(read:music) around me to be able to concentrate on reading. I just starts to trouble me if there's too quite. But I have to say I was sometimes so concentraded on DH that I could read half an hour before I realised the CD had stopped.
Anyway, these are the Cds I listened:
Green Day-International Superhits
Maroon5-Songs about Jane
Bruce Springsteen-Essential

I also tried to listen to radio few times, but it started to annoy me when the commercials always interupted my concentrations.Same with the tv.

I don't know how people read and listen to music at the same time, I just can't do it. The music would distract me something terrible. I have to have quiet when I am reading. Give me a nice quiet secluded place and I am set.

i can barely read let alone listen to music at the same time lol jk... but it would be hard to listen to music at the same time

i never ever read when i have music on, i probably wouldn't be able to concentrate enough! i think however snowpatrol and coldplay (awesome bands) were on in my head-ipod for the bit in king's cross and the last few chapters..and when dobby died....so sadxxxx

I will always remember Harry Potter when I will listen to Avril Lavigne-Innocence

Slowing down I look around and I`m so amazed
I think about the little things that make life great
I wouldn`t change a thing about it...
This is the best feeling
This innocence is brilliant
I hope that it will stay
This moment is perfect
And I`ll hold on to it
Don`t you let it pass you by

The 1st time in my life and now It`s so clear
Feel calm
I belong I`m so happy here

It`s a state but you think you`re dreaming
It`s the happiness inside that you`re feeling
It`s so beautiful and makes you wanna cry

I wasn`t at home when I read DH so I didn`t play any music at all but I read the final chapter at the seaside so the sound of the waves was worth a 100 songs but together

Well I said that when I re-read the book and came across the part wher the phrase 'Best of You' was mentioned I would post again and I have re-read and I know where it is and actually the song and the context in which the phrase was used and who it was about is pretty spot on.

Dumbledore said it to Snape in the pensieve scene. It was relating to Dumbeldore and Snape's agreement that Dumbledore would not tell anyone why he trusted Snape and Dumbeldore says that he would be the only to know the Best of Snape.

i was in an RV when i was reading DH [i made my family stop at a walmart to get it at the first possible chance!! it was only fifteen bucks!! and that also marked my first trip to a walmart aka my new fav store] so i had my ipod with me and for the most part i listened to Amer Pacific. i think their song "If I Fall" is really sad and kind of set the mood for what Harry is kind of feeling when he goes to the forest to die. Also some of theyre songs are about leaving and death which is the a HUUGGEEE part of this book. so yea... thats what i listened to.


and to all of you who can't listen to your ipod while reading WHATS WRONG WITH YOU?! haha

i guess i don't have a tw0-way concentration span lolxxxxx

let's see...there's a lot of songs playing while i'm reading..

in OotP

Fall Out Boy-Dance, Dance
Bullet for my Valentine-Suffocating under Words of Sorrow (i'm reminded of fred and george's grand escape from hogwarts when i hear this one)

in Deathly Hallows, however...

when things were heating up, ie the start of the war in Hogwarts, these were playing

Avenged Sevenfold-Chapter Four, Unholy Confessions, Remenissions, Second Heartbeat, I Wont See You Tonight

i especially like unholy and chapter four, bcoz the intro in unholy confessions sounds epic and like entering a war. chapter 4? simply for the lyrics..

"raise your hand, and taste the courage
fall from grace, unholy night

i'm coming to kill you, wont leave until you die
murder from avengeance, i close my brother's eyes, tonight"

and while the killings...i still remember Slayer's Raining Blood song. the middle riff of the song was playing when Percy was mourning for Fred.. since then i've called that riff Fred's Deathriff. (yea quite cheesy for a speed metal song)

remember the part when harry realizes that he's gonna die in d hands of voldy? the song I Wont See You Tonight played on instantly, and i was on the verge of crying.

and then...after d victory i started choosing more happy songs, like Oasis' Live Forever (haha harry's theme, i'm sure) and Champagne Supernova....and all those happy songs (without getting too cheesy)

and the epilogue...i think i played a class song. The Libertines - Music When the Lights Go Out.

why is it so class?
DanRadcliffe once said this song is about a relationship which is close to breaking off.

...i open at the close.
And this time, the close is the 7-book saga of Harry Potter. then i realized...

...no more potter.