(Don't Fear) The Reaper

Background

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 as motifs to describe a couple believing they would meet again in the afterlife. He guessed that "40,000 men and women" died each day, and the figure was used several times in the lyrics.

Composition and recording

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was written and sung by the band's lead guitarist, Dharma, and produced by David Lucas, Murray Krugman, and Sandy Pearlman. The song's distinctive guitar riff is built on the "i-VII-VI" chord progression, in an A minor scale.

The riff was recorded with Krugmann's Gibson ES-175 guitar, which was run through a Music Man 410 combo amplifier, and Dharma's vocals were captured with a Telefunken U47 tube microphone. The guitar solo and guitar rhythm sections were recorded in one take, while a four-track tape machine amplified them on the recording. Sound engineer Shelly Yakus remembers piecing together the separate vocals, guitar and rhythm section into a master track, with the overdubbing occurring in that order.

Mojo described its creation: "'Guys, this is it!’ engineer Shelly Yakus announced at the end of the first take. ‘The legendary once-in-a-lifetime groove!’ … What evolved in the studio was the extended solo section; it took them nearly as long to edit the five-minute track down to manageable length as it did to record it."

The song features prominent 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, a claim supported by guitarist Eric Bloom.

Reception

The song was on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 20 weeks, reaching number 12 for the weeks beginning November 6 and November 13 in 1976. It was BÖC'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 (CBS 4483) but failed to chart. However the unedited album version was released as a single (CBS 6333) in May 1978, where it reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.

Critical reaction was mostly positive. Denise Sullivan of Allmusic praised the song's "gentle vocals and virtuoso guitar" and "haunting middle break which delivers the listener straight back to the heart of the song once the thunder is finished." Nathan Beckett called it BÖC's "masterpiece" and compared the vocals to the Beach Boys. Writing for PopMatters, James Mann hailed it as a "landmark, genre-defining masterpiece" that was "as grand and emotional as American rock and roll ever got." Pitchfork Media also referred to the song as a "masterpiece." "Extremely poetic" was the verdict of Fountains of Wayne founder Chris Collingwood. "A sad ballad about a man who wants to die with his true love before their love is spoiled by earthly things."'

Accolades

In 1976 Rolling Stone named "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" the song of the year and, in 2004, the magazine placed the song at number 397 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time"; however, the 2010 version of the list moved the song down to number 405. In 1997 Mojo listed the song as the 80th best single of all time, while Q ranked "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" number 404 in its 2003 countdown of the "1001 Best Songs Ever."

When The Guardian released its unranked list of the "1000 Songs Everyone Must Hear" in 2009, the song was included. The publication wrote that the song's charm "lies in the disjuncture between its gothic storyline and the sprightly, Byrdsian guitar line that carries it." In his book The Heart of Rock and Soul: The 1001 Greatest Singles Ever Made, rock critic Dave Marsh ranked the song at number 997.

Other versions

Blue Öyster Cult performed a live version of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on the band's 1978 album Some Enchanted Evening. A live version appears on their 1982 album Extraterrestrial Live. Blue Öyster Cult's 1991 live album Live 1976 features "(Don't Fear) The Reaper". A live version appears on their 2002 album A Long Day's Night. Buck Dharma released an acoustic version of the song on the 1994 various artists compilation album Guitar Practicing Musicians 3.

Gus covered the song in 1996 for the Scream soundtrack. Finnish rock (then gothic metal) band H.I.M. recorded a version of the song on their 1997 debut album Greatest Lovesongs, Vol. 666. Pop rock band the Goo Goo Dolls recorded a cover of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on their 1987 self-titled album. In 1992, Clint Ruin and Lydia Lunch released the extended play Don't Fear the Reaper, on which their rendition of the song appears. Apollo 440 transcribed an electronic version of the track on the 1995 debut album Millennium Fever. In 1998, Jive Bunny & the Mastermixers recorded a cover of the song on their Rock the Party album. Celtic rock band Big Country included a cover of the song on their 2001 covers album Under Cover. The Mutton Birds recorded a version for the 1996 movie The Frighteners; this version is also included on their 2002 greatest hits compilation Flock: The Best of the Mutton Birds. Folk rock band Unto Ashes issued a rendition of "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" on the 2003 album Empty into White. Alternative rock group The Beautiful South covered the song on their 2004 album Golddiggas, Headnodders and Pholk Songs. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was covered by hardcore punk band Snuff on their 2005 album Six of One, Half a Dozen of the Other: 1986-2002. Synthpop band Heaven 17 recorded a cover of the song on their album Before After, also released in 2005. Pat DiNizio, frontman for the Smithereens, covered the song on his 2006 solo album This Is Pat DiNizio. In 2008, jam band moe. recorded a live version of the song on their Dr. Stan's Prescription, Volume 2 album. Rock band L.A. Guns added a version of the song on their 2010 covers album Covered in Guns. Pierce the Veil covered the song on the Punk Goes Classic Rock (2010) compilation. Swedish doom metal band Candlemass covered the song on their 2010 EP Don't Fear The Reaper.

In other media

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" appears on the soundtracks of several films and TV shows, most notably the 1978 horror film Halloween and its 2007 remake.

In addition, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was also featured in the films Gone Girl and Holding the Man, as well as the television shows Orange Is the New Black, 12 Monkeys, Parks and Recreation, Supernatural, The Americans,and Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. The track also appeared as the first song used in the BBC Three Sitcom Uncle starring Nick Helm

The song features prominently in the 1996 video game Ripper, appearing more than once throughout the course of the game and serving as the solution to one of the game's puzzles.

The Worthless Peons sing an a cappella version of the song in the Scrubs episode "My Lawyer's in Love."

Stephen King cited the song as the inspiration for his novel The Stand, and it appears as the theme song for the TV miniseries based on the novel. Its lyrics are also quoted at the beginning of the novel.

In Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, Death's granddaughter Susan has the family motto Non Temetis Messor: "Don't Fear the Reaper." Pratchett's own arms, granted in 2010, has another Latin version of the phrase: Noli Timere Messorem.

The song was memorialized in the April 2000 Saturday Night Live (SNL) 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, an overweight 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 are visibly annoyed by Frenkle, but Dickinson tells everyone, "I got a fever, and the only prescription--is more cowbell!" Buck Dharma thought the sketch was fantastic and said he never gets tired of it.

A segment of the song was performed by Red Hot Chili Peppers on May 22, 2014, as the conclusion of a drumming contest between the band's drummer Chad Smith and actor Ferrell. In a repeat of the 2000 SNL sketch, Ferrell again played cowbell for the rendition, which appeared on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

In October 2013, Banksy featured the song as part of one of his installations, titled "Reaper," in New York City, U.S. (part of Better Out Than In); the song also appears on his YouTube video of the installation.

Track listing

1. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" (Roeser) – 3:45
2. "Tattoo Vampire" (Albert Bouchard, Helen Robbins) – 2:40

Personnel

with: