S.O.D. (Don't Fear) The Reaper" By Blue Oyster Cult
4/30/2016 This song being about eternal love rather then a murder suicide pact as many interpreted. It is written by guitarist Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser who said that the song was also about the inevitability of death as part of his inspiration came from picturing an early death for himself. He used Romeo and Juliet to depict a couple believing they would meet again in the afterlife. Rolling Stone magazine named it Song of the Year in 1976 and ranked it #397 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Q Magazine placed it at #404 in the countdown of the 1001 best songs ever and Mojo Magazine in 1997 listed it as the 80th best single of all time.
Cover versions and social media? You better believe it!! Stephen King stated that the song was the inspiration for his novel The Stand and remains the theme song for the TV miniseries. Perhaps the most recent memorial to the song goes to the Saturday Night Live sketch "More Cowbell" where Will Ferrell is overweight cowbell player, Gene Frenkle and legendary producer Bruce Dickinson is played by Christopher Walken. The rest of the band is filled in by SNL regulars including Jimmy Fallon on drums. The real Buck Dharma thought the skit was fantastic and says that he never gets tired of it. The true story behind that has to do with a producer telling drummer Albert Bouchard to play a cowbell on the track and even though Albert thought he was crazy, everyone agreed that it really pulled the track together. The idea for the cowbell originally came from composer David Lucas.