The Album

 

I was first introduced to wizard rock at LeakyCon 2011. Hank Green took the stage and performed Accio Deathly Hallows, which was the first ever wrock song I had ever heard. Today I’ll be reviewing The Harry Potter Songs! by Hank Green, which is available for purchase through the DFTBA store. Let’s check out this awesome seven song album!

The Tracks

This Is Not Harry Potter is the first song on the album. It’s a quick paced and catchy song that mentions lots of other young adult fiction books and compares them to Harry Potter. I love the rhymes and witty lyrics in this song. My favorite lyric is:

And Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington
Is a character name that by itself is better than anything in Breaking Dawn

Hank Green sings an Open Letter to the wizards of the UK in the next song. He brings up lots of good points about the wizarding industry, magical versus Muggle isolation, racism, and slavery in the wizarding world. I love this song because it details many issues the Potter fandom has felt uncomfortable about for a while.

Accio Deathly Hallows is likely the most well-known Hank Green Harry Potter song. As we reflect back on how it felt to wait for the final book to be released, Hank provides us with an upbeat song that will get stuck in your head. I love the instrumentals and melody to this one. One of my favorite things about this song is how many things Hank guessed would happen in the final book before it came out.

On the flip side of Accio Deathly Hallows, Book Eight is all about what happens after the seventh book. Little did we know that a lot of these things sung in the song would indeed come to light eventually (though not the way that we hoped, considering how JK Rowling turned out for much of the fandom). Still, it’s another catchy song that I enjoy singing along to. At the end of the day, the real Book Eight is us.

Dead Boy’s Girlfriend is a slower and more serious song that has gorgeous harmonies and melancholy lyrics. It’s about Harry’s relationship with Cho Chang after Cedric dies. I adore the melody and slow beat to this song.

A long time ago at the arts camp I work at over the summers, I introduced my campers to This Isn’t Hogwarts. It quickly became our cabin anthem. It’s a high energy, fun, intense song about how real school is not like Hogwarts at all. My favorite lines from this one are:

No ghosts stalkin’ the halls, or hangin’ in the bathroom stalls
And the stairs don’t move, ’cause there’s no stairs at all

The final song on this album is called Dear Mr Potter. It begins with a slow guitar and picks up into a sadder and more serious tone as Hank asks, is this it? The chord progression is bittersweet as we reflect on our time with Harry over the years. At the end of the song, we realize that even though Harry may be done, we – as the fandom who has made countless friendships, art, and changes to the world – are not.

In Summary

Hank Green has given me, and many others, the gift of his thoughts on Harry Potter in the form of music. This short compilation of songs speaks volumes about how a lot of us have felt in the past, and how many of us continue to feel now. A lot of things have changed, and somehow a lot has also stayed the same. I’m grateful to still be here with you after all these years.