Blue Öyster Cult may not be as well known as some other classic rock bands from the same era, but their music still holds up today. They have made a strong collection of songs, but most people recognize them for just one in particular: “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
It’s easy to see why this song is still popular. It has a memorable guitar riff, a fast rhythm mixed with meaningful lyrics about love and death, and of course, the famous cowbell. Rhythm guitarist and singer Eric Bloom spoke about the song’s impact on the Midwest Mixtape podcast. He said it was written by lead guitarist Buck Dharma at a time when he was thinking about how long he might live. According to Bloom:
“It’s a great song… It certainly has stood the test of time. It’s on every classic rock station in the country, here and in Europe, everywhere.”
Bloom also mentioned that the song recently appeared on the TV show The Masked Singer, which surprised him. He said it shows how far the song has reached and how it has become a small piece of rock music history.
While the song was already successful, its popularity jumped even higher after the “More Cowbell” sketch on Saturday Night Live. The comedy skit featured Christopher Walken as a dramatic music producer named “The Bruce Dickinson” and Will Ferrell as the cowbell player. Bloom enjoyed the sketch and said what made it especially funny was that the cast members, like Jimmy Fallon, kept laughing during the performance. That made the whole thing feel even more real and silly.
Bloom also pointed out how strange and funny Walken’s lines were, such as:
“‘You’re gonna be wearing gold diapers.’ What does that even mean?”
At first, Bloom was shocked when he saw actors pretending to be the band. But after watching it a few more times, he started to find the humor in it.
“When they’re doing you, it’s not so funny at first… but then it really is.”
