"(Don't Fear) The Reaper" | ||||
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Single by Blue Öyster Cult | ||||
from the album Agents of Fortune | ||||
B-side | "Tattoo Vampire" | |||
Released | July 4, 1976 | |||
Recorded | 1975 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser | |||
Producer(s) | ||||
Blue Öyster Cult singles chronology | ||||
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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]
Meanwhile, Blue Oyster Cult released two of the decade's hard rock favorites: "Don't Fear the Reaper" and "Godzilla.
Reaper' was a one-off return to their 60s psychedelic roots.
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.