The Music in Snape's Life
What sort of music do you imagine Snape could have listened to while he was alive?
Note: best answers are songs that would have existed during his lifetime, so nothing past 3 May 1998
The Sound of Silence by Simon & Garfunkel probably. I don't know, that's the only thing I could think of that was actually old.
So, this list is far from finished but here are the first few I came up with:
- God Save the Queen - Sex Pistols
- Hotter than Hell - KISS
- Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap - AC/DC
- The Wizard - Black Sabbath
- Blitzkrieg Bop - Ramones
- School‘s Out - Alice Cooper
- Rockin‘ all over the World - Status Quo
- Smoke on the Water - Deep Purple
More to follow soon 😉
I think Schubert's Winterreise (Winter's Journey, Romantic song cycle which also incidentally happens to be my very favourite) is a good candidate for Severus if we go into classical music XD
I like Schubert @serenaew . I will check out whether I've heard that piece. (EDIT: I haven't. Listening to it on YouTube now.)
I think classical music is a good bet for Snape, who might appreciate its cerebral and complicated nature. Also, the idea of potions brewing in a castle with classical music in the background is to die for! For classical composers, I wonder whether he would like the architectural beauty of Bach's music, or the tempestuous nature of Beethoven?
But we know the Wizarding World also has popular songs such as those by Celestina Warbeck. CAn anyone see Snape jamming to those?
I actually think that even though Sev might enjoy Classical music from time to time, he also loves some harder music. Like Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, KISS, ACDC and so on. But also enjoys Punk music, I can imagine him very well at a Sex Pistols concert.
My playlists for writing Severus fanfics include songs by:
- The Kinks
- King Crimson
- Scott Walker
- Emerson, Lake & Palmer
- Pink Floyd
- David Bowie
- and Current 93 (especially Dogs Blood Rising and All the Pretty Little Horses)
Apart from that, I think he'd enjoy some calming classics like Liszt, Rachmaninov's slower, more evocative pieces such as the Isle of the Dead or The Rock, Chopin, and some Massenet. Oh, and Ippolitov's Caucasian Sketches.
All in all, I think he'd be into music that really paints a picture in one's mind. So he could find some reprieve from the grim reality that was his life.
Quote from Dust Collector on July 11, 2024, 3:41 pmMy playlists for writing Severus fanfics include songs by:
- The Kinks
Love this band. Hey, Dead End Street sounds like the kind of sarcastic mentality to a life that sucks that would suit Snape, LOL.
Apart from that, I think he'd enjoy some calming classics like Liszt, Rachmaninov's slower, more evocative pieces such as the Isle of the Dead or The Rock, Chopin, and some Massenet. Oh, and Ippolitov's Caucasian Sketches.
Nice, I am going to listen to some of these. Already love Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninov. I know one piece by Massenet (Meditation des Thais).
Quote from mmlf on July 12, 2024, 7:42 amNice, I am going to listen to some of these. Already love Liszt, Chopin, Rachmaninov. I know one piece by Massenet (Meditation des Thais).
Funnily enough, I've always disliked Meditation, finding it too sweet and languid. Until I've heard the entire opera, that is. Set in context, that piece is actually pretty moving. (That said, I still prefer 'Voilà donc la terrible cité' and 'Je n'ai pas plus choisi mon sort que ma nature!'. The latter directly precedes 'Meditation' and is the finale of Act I, and boy, there are some emotions there. Thais is definitely one of my top 3 operas.)
I don't see Snape having a large record collection. I see him listening more to the radio. My thinking is that in his childhood days he listened to what his parents listened too. Maybe they had a record player with very few albums and some single records. I'm thinking in the mix was some crooner music, such as, Al Martino and Doris Day and some Rock-n-Roll, such as, Buddy Holly and Elvis. I like to think that Eileen liked muggle music, especially Rick Nelson, and it had something on how she met Tobias. When he met Lily, he listened to what her and Petunia listened to. I see Petunia leading the way to what Lily listened to and it would be more pop music, such as, to Love Affair,David Cassidy and the radio. During the Hogwarts student days he was at school and would listen to whatever teenage wizard and witches listen to and I don't think it was the Weird Sisters or Celestina Warbeck. During the Summer when he was in the muggle world he would listen to the radio, but I can't see him buying albums, records, 8 tracks or cassettes tapes. No money and why when he wouldn't be able to listen to them when he was at Hogwarts. I could see Lily giving him an album if Tobias and Elieen had a record player in their house. What album? It would have to be before his worse memory. Around 1974 or 1975. It would be something she liked that she thought he might like. (And also something I am familiar with since it is my imagination.) I've nailed it down to a David Bowie album between 1970-1975. I don't know which one yet. My imagination thinks that Lily and Severus had their suspicions that Bowie was a wizard. During Snape's teaching years he mostly listened to the wireless in the Wizarding world, because he didn't spend much time in the muggle world.
Side note. Many of the fanfics I've read have Lily listening to the Beatles. I do not think that was their main music of choice. I think given her age and Petunia they were around 6 and 8 when Beatlemania ended and later Beatles albums were more mature and I don't think most young teen girls were crazy about them. I wasn't in the UK at that time, so I don't know for sure.
