I was driving my Mom somewhere in the summer of 1976, the day I put the first stereo in her station wagon. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" came on the radio, and I naturally turned it up, fully expecting her to make me turn it down. She didn't, which I thought was kinda strange. When the song ended, my surprise turned to shock: she said "I like that. That's pretty cool". Never before had she had a single positive word to say about ANY of the music I listened to. Gathering hope, over the next couple of weeks I turned her on to Elton John, Boston and Queen. She still hated Black Sabbath, Nazareth and Montrose, but at least the door was opening, if only a little bit. On the other hand, my Dad was a lost cause.
I was finally able to trick my mom into liking the Beatles, sometime in the late seventies or early eighties by asking her to listen to Let it Be just as it came on the radio, and asking her if she liked it. She said she did, and then freaked out for a bit when I told her is was the dreaded Beatles!
ThatOneGuyAgain my mom is 92 and she really digs Queen and Bowie. Back in the 60s she enjoyed the Beatles in real time, you might say. My dad, nor so much. 🙂
Keep in mind that their record company wanted them to be America's answer to Black Sabbath so they have a catalogue of songs with "dark" lyrics like "Harvester of Eyes" or 'Nosferatu". They released some great albums back in the day!
Can't hear this song without immediately thinking of author Stephen King and The Stand. lol Also, great song, but for my money Burning For You is even better.
The Stand is my all time favorite book ever! the movie is not as good as the book but what do i expect isnt the book always much better than the movie ??? anyway if somebody wants to read a wonderful book the stand is the book you should read! My recommendation! It will captivate you!.
@@rebeccacobarrubias9547 The Stand may be too scary to read in Donald Trump's America. Trump trying to make The Stand a true life story. I'm going to wait until Biden is in power to re-read it. lol
I love this song. My wife of 43 years passed away June 10 this year. I visit her grave every night. There are no words to describe the grief. To help, I even picture her still alive in a parallel universe.
John , So so sorry on the loss of your precious wife. Prayers & condolences to you & your family. Always keep her memory as a continuing blessing in your heart. ❤️& mind .🙏😢Again so very sorry.❤️😢🙏
She'll be happily waiting for you John. You'll see. I know mine is waiting for me and if there was a way for her to send a message she would. In the meantime, I send her messages.
You’re awesome, young Daniel! It’s awesome to know you’re a Christian; appreciate you saying so! Love your reactions, love this one! I wish you were my kiddo, or actually you’d have to be my grandkid! How proud your folks must be of you. 😊👍🌸💖
I always took the main character in this song to BE the reaper, inviting and persuading a woman who is afraid of death to join him, which in the end, she does (although we're not sure how), as the candle's flame and the wind blowing the curtain dies, so does she. And she dies without fearing death. Thanks for diving into the meanings of these songs.
Have been one of my favourite bands since the '70s. As an Aussie I have been fortunate to have seen them twice, once in Australia and once in the States. Love them!!! Still making great albums today.
You really caught on to those lyrics right away. I always heard it as death seduces his woman away from him, not suicide but he is trying to see it as something less tragic. My friend saw BOC in the early 80s and they played Reaper for an encore, but the audience wouldn’t leave chanting Reaper Reaper Reaper, the band returned to the stage and played Reaper again and the crowd went nuts. I’ve never heard of any other band doing this. BOC are still going strong. Their quarantine performance of Godzilla is great. Check out their channel. Love those guys.
Written by guitarist Donald Roeser, it coupled the group’s mysticism with a beautiful melody, lush harmonies and one of the coolest guitar riffs of the ‘70s. Of the song’s beginnings, Roeser says, “I was thinking about my own mortality. 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.”
The Romeo and Juliet reference... have always thought this song was (mostly) about one lover convincing the other to a suicide pact. It all falls into place with that..
You need to do "Burning For You". It has a kick ass 30 second guitar solo that makes me wish it was 30 _MINUTES_ ., and I know you like good guitar solos.🤘🎸
Back in 1973, in Highschool. A little known Band "BLUE OYSTER CULT". A fan group of sophomores athletes had they're Locker room blasting with The sounds of B.O.C. THE ALBUM WAS TYRANNY AND MUTATION. "THE RED AND BLACK", "SEVEN SCREAMING DIZBUSTERS"...SINGERS ERIC BLUME, DONALD "BUCK" DHARMA". WHO ALSO PLAYED LEAD GUITAR. "DON'T FEAR THE REAPER" CAME OUT IN THE MID 70'S... WE WERE INTRODUCED TOO THE ROCK CONCERT SCENE WITH THIS GROUP. YOU'RE REACTION WAS VERY COOL...🤩✌the first ALBUM had "CITIES ON FLAME WITH ROCK AND ROLL", "THEN CAME THE LAST DAY'S OF MAY" ON IT.
That was a great time for SNL but for me nothing touches the days of Ackroyd, Belushi, Curtain, Murray, Murphy and Morris. It was a time of smiles and laughter ... for the viewers at home too ;) . Thanks for reminding me of the skit though. I hadn't seen this since the original airing. BOC was a great band. This, Godzilla and Burning for you were all great tunes. Veteran of Psychic Wars stole the show in Heavy Metal (the animated movie) though. When Taarna walked into that bar all our hearts popped out of our chests. Yes, we were all teen boys sitting there watching lol. Even sexily dressed animated girls excited us lol.
I agree about SNL. Back then it was all improv. A few years later after the original Not Ready for Prime Time players left they started to use scripts to stay in a time frame. It su_ked afterwards.
Fall is DEFINITELY the best season. This is a fantastic Fall song. Great reaction. Your analysis is always meaningful and insightful. Great channel. Loved all your discoveries through the 70s, looking forward to you diving more into the 80s.
You’re hitting all the classics, Daniel! You’re loving guitarist and singer Buck Dharma. I hear Death and Rebirth in this song. The Rebirth is after that great instrumental break. This would also be a great track for a vampire movie.
Daniel this time I'm gonna tell you what I love about you, I love that you actually answer your watchers/ listeners, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart, I know that I'm a little rough on you sometimes but hey really it isn't because i'm mean i just want you to get it right! just a little constructive criticism ok? and guess what? I am still watching and listening to your channel, so yeah, KUDOS to you my friend!
I do read everything you post, thank you for the support. In response to an earlier comment, no I do not think you're a "jerk" or come off that way, thank you for the constructive feedback:)
@@kingoffire9373 I hope your edit was changing that first line. Sometimes the internet is wrong. According to my ears, as well as the lyric book published in 92 or 93 it is "you see me now"
@@bobprivate8575 I've heard it many many times and I always felt it was "you see me now", but i wanted to make sure i got it right and looked up lyrics, so actually my gut was right all along haha. Fixed it, I could've sworn i had it right to start with and the lyrics page felt off
@@kingoffire9373 I think the origin of that error is Metallica's more recent acoustic cover from 2019. There it sounds like "seeing" but if you go back to older Metallica performances, or to BOC ones, it's "see me". Might be a chicken and the egg thing: Did the internet lyrics prompt Metallica to change, or did Metallica change which caused the internet lyrics to follow suit?
I've always taken this song to say, "come with me, we're going to live hard and not fear death." Based on " Come on Baby, take my hand, we'll be able to fly". In any event, the song is a banger.
The same theme can be found in the classic opera "Tristan und Isolde" by Richard Wagner. A pair of doomed lovers cannot live together in life but hope to be together in death, it even has a Love Death aria (Liebestod) which is quite famous. I love this song, the lyrics, the call and response of them, the guitar propelling it forward. Sadly nothing else I've ever heard by this group sounds half as good as this classic, it's in a tier all its own.
BÖC have been on tour with Uriah Heep.Touring In Europe Uriah Heep have been the headliners and touring in USA BÖC. This really is partnership. Great band
I kinda thought it was about an old couple in their last years with both having a terminal illness, both dying the same night. It's happened! Lol or it's the Reaper getting the dying.
Saw Blue Oyster Cult in 1976 in Boston, loudest concert I've ever seen. Great band. Added bonus was the opening band whom I never heard of called Boston! What a show especially for $5.00 ticket fee.
I was never a Blue Oyster Cult fan. I can remember that ever famous Black and Blue concert. With Blue Oyster Cult and Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath jammed circles around Blue Oyster Cult
i am so glad that yu are iistening to these songs like i did when i grew up these songs colored the background of my life now these songs can color your life too!!!!!!
The 'heavy metal' tag put me off BOC for years (just assumed this was an atypical radio-friendly song) but thankfully got around to investigating them further. ETI, I Love the Night and Career of Evil are great tracks too, but they've got loads of 'em (and a new album out any month now).
I cry at many songs and sometimes feel embarrassed but there is no reason. My sensitive, empathetic spirit is what drew my wife to me. You are very deep and you will also find more joy than most but will also hurt when a dog dies or maybe, listening to a sad song. Lord Bless you and thanks for appreciating the music I grew up with.
I saw Blue Oyster Cult as a warm up band for The Byrds about a week or so before Don't Fear The Reaper. Sat about 7 or 8 rows in front of Buck Dharma (the lead player). He was really good and they weren't to be a warm up band much longer. Mahavishnu Orchestra, another great band, was also on the bill that night.
Kelly Johnson no, Robert Redford plays The Reaper... It’s called “Nothing in the Dark” ... I’m sure you can watch it on RU-vid...... he even says in the episode...... take my hand
First One AGAIN - Yes - this is actually pretty fun to play on guitar.. Maybe I haven't seen all of these - but Queen is another great band to react to - Everyone does BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY or We are the Champions (fine songs- but there's a lot of great stuff)- I would suggest- I'm in love with my car (on the 2nd side of Night At the Opera).
Guitarist/vocalist Donald (Buck Dharma) Roeser wrote the lyrics after a health scare he had about his heart, it turned out to be nothing, but inspired the lyrics. Really enjoying your reactions.
I always took this song as science fiction short story, and never understood the idea it was pro-suicide or whatever. Böc has a lot of SF content, which I really like. As a youngster this was a very important band to me. Others have given very good recommendations, I hope we get more Böc.
"Veteran of the Psychic Wars" is a must. Co-written by sci-fi author Michael Moorcock and featured in the movie 'Heavy Metal'. Although there are sci-fi overtones the lyrics can be related to any war of any time. Check it out, Daniel.
I saw Blue Oyster Cult as a warm up band for Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Byrds in late 1971 in Orono, Maine. Sat about 15 or 20 feet in front of Buck Dharma. Great lead player. The Reaper was part of their show then. Buck, Jon McLaughlin, Clarence White and Roger McGuinn all in one show. What more could I have wanted?
My god look at that smile ! LoL . Well same response that everyone has when they first hear it. Dry cool band from Long Island with a New York attitude
Here's what this song is about Written by guitarist Donald Roeser, it coupled the group’s mysticism with a beautiful melody, lush harmonies and one of the coolest guitar riffs of the ‘70s. Of the song’s beginnings, Roeser says, “I was thinking about my own mortality. 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.
I just went back and finished watching the _WHOLE_ reaction (I was interupted the 1st time), and your comment about the SNL skits was right on the $$$. There is one skit SNL does occasionally that's funny: "the girl you wish you hadn't started a conversation with at a party". You should check them out.
Saw them many times in the 70s. Always one of the finest live acts and I saw most of them in 70s and 80s .. Also laser beams for the masses... You know because you were there.
@@danepurciful7164 My buddy and I tried to get down to center stage front and ended up stuck in front of a stack of Marshalls two stories high! So crazy fun! Very memorable. They rocked the whole arena, great show.
@@jimsteffel Had a similar thing happen to me at Ted Nugent show. I went temporarily blind. Had to get out of the crowd, couldn't see. Had buddy pointing me which way to go. He said the crowd just got out of my way. Guess they thought I was getting sick. After a few minutes my vision returned. The struggle is real in the trenches.
@@jimsteffel Haha. True fact. "70s kids rocking themselves senseless!" I still go to shows when I can. Had tickets for Pearl Jam, Tool and Foo Fighters in hand when the corona hit.
I have an opinion, that is don't fear the reaper is an actual love song. You got this. Indeed, not metal, way too mellow. That said, we are all born into this life and only owe one death, but that is inevitable. And that cowbell thing on SNL is priceless.EDIT: I have got to listen to the entire thing before commenting - I have (not kidding) EVERY Stephen King novel, graphic novel, and anthology, in hardcover, on three shelves of my library.
In some markets, they cannot perform under the name Blve Oyster Cvlt, so the use that other name to get around it. I was a confused teenager in the Albany NY area hearing that Soft White Underbelly was going to appear in concert, while the radio commercial played Blve Oyster Cvlt songs in the background.
That was great and it was a lot of fun watching the SNL skit too. I just have to say though Iv'e been watching SNL since the 70s and every 5 yrs or so people will say the show isn't as good today as the "old show." I loved you included this in your reaction
One of BOC's best and it reaches it max live. It seems like yesterday when I saw them many times in the 70's. They were one of the bands that were sure to be at a big outdoor concert. I have vivid memories of this song with lasers. Buck is a great guitar player. React to "Then Came the Last Days of May" especially the live version. Excellent reaction video brother. God Bless!
As a terminally ill person I know for a fact that you can't LIVE if you're always scared of dying. I was a cna and I cared for hundreds of dying people. There's nothing to fear. You become a part of the universe.
FYI DFtR was recorded in 1975; so their declining fortunes didn't occur until Club Ninja. I've read articles about this skit and no one from BOC knew about it until they saw it on SNL. They all loved it though. And it gave the audiences renewed interest in their music.
I stayed. By the way, in a Tesla, you can turn on "More Cowbell" and when you do, the visual map changes and they play a bit of this sketch - including Christopher Walken's line about have a fever and the only cure being more cowbell!
I always see this life as an education and we take what we need to progress our spirit and if we refuse to be educated, then we are reborn, until we learn what we were put here to learn. We are all on different levels.
Aside from the Romeo and Juliet reference, the song also alludes to the story of Orpheus and Eurydice. He asks Hermes (Mercury) to lead him into Hades to rescue her from Pluto since she ate the pomegranate (property of Pluto). She can go back with him but he cannot look back at her until they are outside the gates of the underworld. Of course he looks back because he doubts that it is her or if it is even possible, and she is pulled back into Hades (she had become like they are (the dead).
Great tune and reaction!! I always thought this song was simply about not fearing death because it's a natural thing and it happens to everyone. If you're going to check out more BOC the song Godzilla is a MUST (it is one of my most favorite songs ever) and a song that was intended for Deep Purple but BOC got it called Take Me Away. Another of their good tunes is called Astronomy, covered by Metallica. Regarding SNL....the first 5 seasons were awesome, went downhill after that. And I can't stand Will Farrell, he's just not funny to me. But those first years had so much great content, they were innovators with this kind of entertainment, awesome musical guests and hosts...a lot of great stuff!
Great song!! I first heard this song in the original ''Halloween'' (1978) which is my favourite horror film!! I believe the lyrics inspired Stephen King's ''The stand'' and I think part of the lyrics appear in the first few pages of the book. I'm sure one of your views will double check me on this and destroy me if I got that wrong :P
Huge piece of advice, Daniel? Always look into the actual band name meaning. It is fascinating knowledge to acquire. For instance, if I recall correctly, the manager of the band had written a poem in which aliens called Blue Oysters were like guardians for humans.:)
