“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper”—Blue Oyster Cult says it’s not what you think
“I formed a story about a love affair that transcends death…”
Blue Oyster Cult’s cult classic song “(Don’t Fear) the Reaper” has haunted generations—with many imagining that the song was calling for lovers to commit suicide. However, in this video interview with the Professor of Rock, the band members explain that a lot of people have misunderstood the track…
From the Professor of Rock:
“‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper’ by Blue Oyster Cult is a classic rock standard that came from the fear of death. However, here were so many urban legends around it that it caused satanic panic back in the ‘70s. People thought it was glorifying suicide and the occult—though it had nothing to do with either. In some ways it was actually spiritual…. I think it would be cool to hear at funeral.”
“(Don’t Fear) The Reaper” appeared on Blue Oyster Cult’s 1976 album Agents of Fortune. The song, written and sung by lead guitarist Donald Roeser—known by his stage name, Buck Dharma—deals with eternal love and the inevitability of death. Dharma wrote the song while picturing an early death for himself.
“I was thinking about my own mortality,” he told Performing Songwriter. “I wrote the guitar riff, the first two lines of lyric sprung into my head, then the rest of it came as I formed a story about a love affair that transcends death. I was thinking about my wife, and that maybe we’d get together after I was gone.”
P.S.—Dharma also wrote BOC’s song that was a tribute to Godzilla.
