‘(Don't Fear) The Reaper’ is a song by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the band's 1976 album Agents of Fortune. The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser, deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. Dharma wrote the song while picturing an early death for himself.
The song is about the inevitability of death and the foolishness of fearing it, and was written when Dharma was thinking about what would happen if he died at a young age. Lyrics such as "Romeo and Juliet are together in eternity" have led many listeners to interpret the song to be about a murder–suicide pact, but Dharma says the song is about eternal love, rather than suicide. He used Romeo and Juliet to describe a couple who wanted to be together in the afterlife. He guessed that "40,000 men and women" died each day (from all causes), and the figure was used several times in the lyrics, but this number was about 100,000 too low.
The song features use of the cowbell percussion instrument, overdubbed on the original recording. Bassist Joe Bouchard remembered the producer requesting his brother, drummer Albert Bouchard, play the cowbell: "Albert thought he was crazy. But he put all this tape around a cowbell and played it. It really pulled the track together." However, producer David Lucas says that he played it, while band member Eric Bloom claims that he was the one to play it.
Released as an edited single (omitting the slow building interlude in the original), the song is Blue Öyster Cult's highest chart success, reaching #7 in Cash Box and #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 in late 1976. It was the band’s highest-charting U.S. song and helped Agents of Fortune reach number 29 on the Billboard 200. ‘(Don't Fear) The Reaper’ charted even higher in Canada, peaking at number 7. The single edit was released in the UK in July 1976 but failed to chart. However, the unedited album version was released as a single in May 1978, where it reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart. Critical reception was positive and in December 2003 ‘(Don't Fear) The Reaper’ was listed at number 405 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 500 songs of all time.
The song was memorialized in the April 2000 Saturday Night Live comedy sketch "More Cowbell". The six-minute sketch presents a fictionalized version of the recording of ‘(Don't Fear) The Reaper’ on an episode of VH1's Behind the Music. Will Ferrell wrote the sketch and played Gene Frenkle, a cowbell player. "Legendary" producer Bruce Dickinson, played by Christopher Walken, asked Frenkle to "really explore the studio space" and up the ante on his cowbell playing. The rest of the band is visibly annoyed by Frenkle, but Dickinson tells everyone, "I got a fever, and the only prescription is more cowbell!" Buck Dharma said that the sketch was fantastic and he never gets tired of it but also lamented that it made the song lose its 'creepy' vibe for some time.
Label – Columbia
Songwriter – Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
Producers – David Lucas, Murray Krugman, Sandy Pearlman
SONG LYRICS
[Verse 1: Buck Dharma]All our times have come
Here, but now they're gone
Seasons don't fear the Reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun, or the rain
[Chorus: Buck Dharma]
(We can be like they are) Come on, baby
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, take my hand
(Don't fear the Reaper) We'll be able to fly
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, I'm your man
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Verse 2: Buck Dharma]
Valentine is done
Here, but now they're gone
Romeo and Juliet
Are together in eternity (Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday (Like Romeo and Juliet)
40,000 men and women everyday (Redefine happiness)
Another 40,000 coming everyday
[Chorus: Buck Dharma]
(We can be like they are) Come on, baby
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, take my hand
(Don't fear the Reaper) We'll be able to fly
(Don't fear the Reaper) Baby, I'm your man
La, la, la, la, la
La, la, la, la, la
[Instrumental Bridge]
[Verse 3: Buck Dharma]
Love of two is one
Here, but now they're gone
Came the last night of sadness
And it was clear she couldn't go on
The door was open and the wind appeared
The candles blew and then disappeared
The curtains flew and then he appeared
[Outro: Buck Dharma]
(Saying, "don't be afraid") Come on, baby
(And she had no fear) And she ran to him
(Then she started to fly) They looked backward and said goodbye
(She had become like they are) She had taken his hand
(She had become like they are) Come on, baby
(Don't fear the Reaper)