(Don't Fear) The Reaper

This article is about the song by Blue Öyster Cult. For other works by the same name, see Don't Fear the Reaper (disambiguation).
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
Single by Blue Öyster Cult
from the album Agents of Fortune
B-side"Tattoo Vampire"
Released1976
Recorded1975
Genre
Length
  • 5:08 (album version)
  • 3:45 (single edit)
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
Producer(s)
Blue Öyster Cult singles chronology
"Then Came the Last Days of May"
(1975) 		"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
(1976) 		"This Ain't the Summer of Love"
(1976)
Official audio
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on YouTube

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" is a song by American rock band Blue Öyster Cult from the 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.[4] Dharma wrote the song while picturing an early death for himself.

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. 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.[5]

  1. ^ Kelly Boyer Sagert (January 1, 2007). The 1970s. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-313-33919-6. Meanwhile, Blue Oyster Cult released two of the decade's hard rock favorites: "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Godzilla.
  2. ^ Strong, Martin Charles; Griffin, Brendon (2008). Lights, camera, sound tracks. Canongate. p. 18. ISBN 978-1-84767-003-8. Reaper' was a one-off return to their 60s psychedelic roots.
  3. ^ Jurek, Thom. "Agents of Fortune - Blue Öyster Cult". AllMusic. Retrieved March 21, 2019. The album yielded the band's biggest single with "(Don't Fear) The Reaper," a multi-textured, deeply melodic soft rock song with psychedelic overtones.
  4. ^ Simpson, Dave (February 19, 2019). "How we made Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper". The Guardian. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  5. ^ Stone, Rolling (December 11, 2003). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone.