The Album

This is the one and only album by The Silver Doe, a wrocker from New York state. Originally released sometime in 2009, Lily’s Last Breath was rereleased on November 19, 2021.

The Tracks

We’ve got a piano version of Celestina Warbeck’s famous song, A Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love! I loved the piano part, and the vocal part was sultry and full. What an amazing and jazzy cover.

Always has an ethereal sounding instrumental part backing up the longing lyrics. Snape will always regret leaving Lily to be a Death Eater, and will love her to his last breath, which he does. My favorite line is: In his darkest hour, it’s love that he recalls.

We go back to the piano for The Ronald Weasley Blues. The melody is passionate and the backing piano is gorgeous. The lyrics stay true to the title of the song; it’s filled with sadness and missing Ron. This piece was beautifully performed.

Wit Beyond Measure takes us to another plane of music. It’s got a rock vibe with upbeat percussion and a head-bobbing tempo. This song is for all the Ravenclaws out there – representing the blue and bronze! As a Ravenclaw, I was very happy to discover this song.

We get to the song that is named after the album (or maybe vice-versa). Lily’s Last Breath begins with a forlorn piano. It details the night when Lily and James died. A jazzy percussion part is added as we get into the story.

The Beggar tells about an interesting perspective from Snape. I really like the idea of Snape as “The Beggar” and it makes me wonder what Dumbledore thought of him when Snape came to him on that hill many years ago.

There’s another cover of a Celestina Warbeck song; this time it’s You Charmed the Heart Right Out of Me. Celestina loves her piano accompaniment, and so do I. I was not expecting this song to be slow and full of heartbreak, but it works so well.

We Won’t Stay Put is a heartfelt song about supporting those who have to fight in the wizarding war. An additional voice is added in near the end which makes me think of Dumbledore’s Army getting ready to fight in the Room of Requirement.

The last song is The Final Sacrifice. It’s got a great beat and I was pleasantly surprised by the content of the song combining with such a catchy and upbeat song. However, I realized it is a parody of Billy Joel’s In the Middle of the Night. It actually works really well. Harry is on his way to face Voldemort one last time to make himself the final sacrifice for the war, and the album ends on an upbeat note.

In Summary

I was impressed by the range of genres that were present in this album. We had parodies, covers, guitar, piano, rock, jazz… it was all so good! The singer has a lovely voice that only accentuated the well-thought out lyrics. I enjoyed listening to this album and I hope you do too!