I have been trying to motivate myself to post more frequently, and part of that is trying to open myself up to posting about different things small and large. In that vein, I want to talk about why Blue Öyster Cult’s (Don’t Fear) The Reaper is so powerful.
I love Blue Öyster Cult for many reasons, but I keep coming back to them because they make music about the liminal. Much of their music reads like speculative fiction featuring aliens, monsters, fairies, and Death itself. Don’t Fear paints a heartbreaking picture of grief and the immense power it holds over people. For those who don’t know, the song is delivered by a recently deceased man to his still living love who becomes so wracked with grief that she takes her own life to join her lover in the afterlife. The song is essentially about a haunting, a discomforting aspect that is often forgotten. Songwriter Buck Dharma (one of the best guitarists ever
