Blue Oyster Cult: Don't Fear the Reaper Meaning
Song Released: 1976
Download "Don't Fear the Reaper" on MP3:
Download from Amazon MP3Download from iTunes
Download Ringtone
Don't Fear the Reaper Lyrics
Here but now they’re gone
Seasons don’t fear the reaper
Nor do the wind, the sun or the rain.. we can be like they are
Come on baby... don’t fear the reaper
Baby take my hand... don’t fear the reaper
We’ll be able to...
-
1TOP RATED
anonymous Aug 19th 2007, 00:55 report
I agree about the one interpretation saying that it's about how death is actually part of life, not to be afraid of it.
"Seasons don't fear the reaper"
I love that line. It's true. Seasons have to "die" and go. They can't last forever, but they're always back around next year. If seasons didn't change, the world would be out of sync. It's a comparison to how the writer thinks we should believe. we will die one day, but new lives are born everyday to keep the world in sync. death is nothing to dread. The whole seasons thing can also mean that since seasons always come around again, so do we. meaning, afterlife.? -
2TOP RATED
anonymous Sep 16th 2007, 22:52 report
Jim Jones only had about 1000 followers, and a few where able to escape.
This is what Dharma had to say:
“ I felt that I had just achieved some kind of resonance with the psychology of people when I came up with that, I was actually kind of appalled when I first realized that some people were seeing it as an advertisement for suicide or something that was not my intention at all. It is, like, not to be afraid of it (as opposed to actively bring it about). It's basically a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners. " -
3TOP RATED
stublues Feb 17th 2006, 11:10 report
The band has said that this song is actually about the cycle of life and death. (40,000 men and and women every day, another 40,000 come in every day...) The main point is that you shouldn't fear death, since it is just a part of life. They said it is not about suicide, and although they can see where that interpretation could be drawn, it wasn't intended. By the way, they said the "40,000" number was just a guess. They did no research as to how many people are born and die on any given day...
-
-
anonymous Mar 11th, 18:50 report
mY WIFE DIED OF CANCER AFTER A 12 YEAR STRUGGLE. SHE WAS VERY SPIRITUAL AND PREPARED FOR DEATH AS ANOTHER PASSAGE IN LIFE. SHE WAS READY AND I WAS HOLDING HER HAND WHEN SHE DIED. THIS SONG IS BEAUTIFUL IN A BITTERSWEET WAY AS WAS MY WIFE'S DEATH. SHE WAS SO BRAVE AND TAUGHT ME HOW TO PREPARE FOR MY TIME TO PASS. WHAT A GREAT GIFT.
-
anonymous Oct 14th 2012, 01:32 report
The love of my life died earlier this year. He and I were not together at the time. One night before I fell asleep I asked him if there was anything he wanted to tell me. In a dream that night he was talking to me but we had a bad connection (go figure), he said "the repo". I kept asking him in my dream what? I can't hear you. A week or so later my son got a hold of the iPad and played this song for a few seconds before moving on to another. Then it hit me and when I read the lyrics I got chills and smiled. This song means to me that our story is not yet over.
-
anonymous Jun 24th 2012, 19:11 report
Hm. Glad I found this page. I always thought it was about a drug overdose. My boyfriend recently died unexpectedly and listening to the song in its proper context is actually comforting.
-
anonymous May 12th 2012, 22:55 report
I think the woman in the song, her time has come, but she holds on to life out of fear and he comes to her to convince her it is ok. That they can be together like Romeo and Juliet.
In the end of the song she no longer fears, accepts what must come, and leaves with him.
Very touching lyrics.
People get the idea of suicide because that is the first thing that comes to mind when Romeo and Juliet names are mentioned.
In reality their names were mention for the love they had for each other, not how they died. -
anonymous Apr 3rd 2012, 18:28 report
It is about a relationship that will bloom, and may end, or die, and so the reaper symbolizes the death of the relationship.
That is just the way it seems to me. -
orion8591 Jan 7th 2012, 16:07 report
A brilliant song, with many levels of interpretation. The most literal one is the acceptance of death as harmoniously symmetrical with life, which causes many people who are anxious about death to incorrectly conclude that the song is about promoting suicide. More to the point, as writer D. Roeser said, Reaper refers to the power of love over death and implies a life after this one...possibly inspired by Roeser's own relationships and a heart condition he reportedly suffered from at the time of writing.
Reaper also came out at a time when the counterculture and love ideal of the 1960's was fading or at least being challenged. Like Stairway To Heaven, Reaper acknowledges this sea change ("all out times have come"), but the song re-affirms love, even though the world was becoming a much harder place for ideals like love.
Old legends from medievial European times about the Grim Reaper and The Maiden, and the reference to Romeo and Juliet give the song a deep psycho-historical resonance. -
anonymous Dec 5th 2011, 19:38 report
Call me crazy, but I think it is about becoming a vampire, just as " I love the night" is. I have always thought this about the lyrics!
-
anonymous Nov 24th 2011, 03:55 report
The song is about a man and woman who are in love and facing their deaths. At the beginning the man is dying and telling the woman to hold his hand becuse he is "her man" and that their love is eternal. He tells her that that romeo and juliet are together in eternity and 40,000 men and women everyday join them. He's saying that although their love is beautiful and legendary in their eyes people it isn't entirely unique. Thousands of people experience love and thousands of people join eternity everyday as a matter of course just as the seasons, the sun, and the rain come and go as a matter of course. He's saying these things don't fear death so we shouldn't either because our true nature is like theirs. Also note that none of these things are permanently gone; they pass away and reaappear.
Near the end of the song the womam dies. The man appears to her(this time in spirit) and again tells her to take his hand she has no fear. She dies and joins him in eternity as thousands of others do every day. The "two now One" is their love which in their physical lives seemed to be only about the two of them transcending death and appearing again as spiritual, eternal, and in union with all souls joined with God. -
anonymous Sep 3rd 2011, 21:34 report
A long last love coming to her in her dreams as a reaper. At his arrival to surrender (loss of virginity) The Wind is his arrival. two souls that will always be together . Love of two is one. Even in the afterlife. If they can not be together here on Earth. they will be together in the after life like Romeo and Juliet and 40,000 men and women everyday.
-
anonymous Jun 26th 2011, 08:51 report
It's about a burning affection and lust between two people who can't be together due to unconventional circumstances. -
anonymous Jun 22nd 2011, 01:12 report
clearly this song is about the acceptance of death and love transcending through. so, there is no reason to fear death for it will only lead to a new point for one's journey with their loved one[s].
-
anonymous Jun 19th 2011, 16:12 report
The 40,000 in the lyrics gives it away. There are over one million suicides worldwide per year (world health organization data). one million would be about 30000 per day; over one million puts it around 40000 I would say. "We can be like they are..."
Suicide. Definitely. -
anonymous Jun 19th 2011, 16:11 report
The 40,000 in the lyrics gives it away. There are over one million suicides worldwide per year (world health organization data). one million would be about 3000 per day; over one million puts it around 4000 I would say. "We can be like they are..."
Suicide. Definitely. -
anonymous Jun 11th 2011, 03:28 report
I believe it means that "don't fear the reaper it interpruts that the man wants her to go with him into hell but she won't because well it's hell so he convinces her with whitty wordplay to kill herself and let's him take her away to well you know the dark region and the seasons don't fear the reaper means that seasons come and go but a jew one is always there taking the spot of the old like a baby and my grandfather rip <3 and now all is fine until memorialization so anyways he's convincing her to go with him tothe afterlife because he did something wrong and died or possibly suicide and "romeo and juliet" he used them to symbolize everlatsing love and how they were together for eternity.
-
anonymous May 18th 2011, 01:57 report
This spirit (if u will) comes to the women in her hour of sadness when she could no longer go on, he is very convincing and persuasive! I think we all know who this man is! And boy can he be convincing and persuasive in our hours of sadness huh?
-
anonymous May 18th 2011, 01:45 report
This spirt (if u will) comes to the women in her hour of sadness when she could no longer go on, he is very convincing and persuasive. She runs to him with no fear! I think we all know who this man is! And boy can he be convincing in our momments of sadness huh??
-
anonymous May 10th 2011, 14:07 report
this songs has to do with not being afraid of death. "seasons dont fear the reaper" is saying everything must come and go. Also 40000 people die everyday is saying that people die everyday, its part of the cycle. BTW the Romeo and juliet reference is not about lovers, its about how when they died they created peace for all of verona. Similarly if no one died the world would be thrown all out of wack. people die so that the world goes smoothly (or at least less recklessly, the world is starting to get over populated.)My guess at the last part about the man saying dont fear the reaper is that the woman is terminally ill and that literally a grim reaper figure of sorts is saying, dont be afraid
-
anonymous May 2nd 2011, 06:12 report
The interperetation's in the name, really. I think the song is about a guy comforting a dying girl, telling her not to fear death (the reaper), because he'll be with her in the end, and they'll be together forever "like Romeo and Juliet".
-
anonymous Mar 31st 2011, 07:31 report
I've always interpreted the song as being about the loss of virginity. The "reaper" is one lover trying to convince another to go "all the way."
Its an updated, rock way of saying 'gather ye rosebuds why ye may."
More Blue Oyster Cult song meanings »
Don't Fear the Reaper lyrics
Don't Fear the Reaper is considered:
Songs about Death
Songs Featuring a Cowbell
Songs about Afterlife
[ suggest ]
Submit Your Interpretation
Trending:
Just Posted
| Just Give Me a Reason | anonymous | |
| 22 | anonymous | |
| Demons | anonymous | |
| Come And Get It | anonymous | |
| Bow Down | anonymous | |
| Baseball Song | anonymous | |
| Carmen | anonymous | |
| Let You Down | anonymous | |
| Concrete Angel | anonymous | |
| ...And We All Have A Hell | anonymous | |
| Apartment | anonymous | |
| Slaves to Substance | anonymous | |
| Walking Between the Rain Drops | anonymous | |
| When I Was Your Man | anonymous | |
| My Sacrifice | anonymous |
10 Most popular bands this week
| 1 | Beatles |
|---|---|
| 2 | Ed Sheeran |
| 3 | Coldplay |
| 4 | Taylor Swift |
| 5 | Eminem |
| 6 | Linkin Park |
| 7 | Pink |
| 8 | Fun. |
| 9 | Imagine Dragons |
| 10 | Rihanna |
