(Don't Fear) The Reaper

"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
"(Don't Fear) The Reaper"
Single by Blue Öyster Cult
from the album Agents of Fortune
B-side	"Tattoo Vampire"
Released	July 4, 1976
Recorded	1975
Genre	Hard rock; psychedelic rock; soft rock;
Length	5:08 (album version); 3:45 (single edit);
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser
Producer(s)	David Lucas; Murray Krugman; Sandy Pearlman;
Blue Öyster Cult singles chronology
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 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.^[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]

^ Kelly Boyer Sagert (1 January 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Simpson, Dave (19 February 2019). "How we made Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
^ Stone, Rolling (December 11, 2003). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone.

[1] Kelly Boyer Sagert (1 January 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.

[Grdn-4] Simpson, Dave (19 February 2019). "How we made Blue Öyster Cult's Don't Fear the Reaper". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 September 2023.

[5] Stone, Rolling (December 11, 2003). "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone.

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