Rey's A Point

Don’t Fear The Blogger

I was surfing the web the other day and came across a blogger (I completely lost the link or even the method I got to it) who posted the song “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Elliot Smith wondering what the song was about. One of his commentors said the song was about living in the moment. I cracked up. Thrice.

Reason one: Elliot Smith didn’t write “Don’t Fear the Reaper”. He covered the song it but then credits Blue Oyster Cult for writing it (or at least the guy running the site does the crediting). That of course made me go look at Will Ferril’s “More Cowbell” skit.

Reason Two: the song isn’t about living in the moment—it’s about a chick killing herself. Granted, it’s sometimes difficult to hear the lyrics if you have the volume set too low. With the harmonies, the riff, and the overwhelming urge to hone in on the cowbell the lyrics get lost. So it is possible to miss the whole story of a lost love and the woman missing him. But, I can’t imagine missing the repeated chous. Don’t fear the reaper…hold his hand…come on baby?

Reason Three: the dark irony that Elliot Smith killed himself. Well maybe anyway. According to wikipedia, the knowledge repository watchdogged by thousands of anonymous people who likely write blogs and Still Know Better Than You, there are some questions about it being a homicide. This time I believe them because Smoking Gun has the facts faxes.

Of course, the original poster might have just been playing the irony card as well. Nah, I didn’t feel like trying to find the post again but I will have more cowbell.

Rey

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3 responses to “Don’t Fear The Blogger”

  1. I hadn’t paid much attention to the lyrics over the years, mumbling along to the song in my car, but I did pick out the chorus. I can understand the living in the moment interpretation. It’s “Come on baby/Don’t fear the Reaper/Baby take MY hand/Don’t fear the Reaper/We’ll be able to fly/Don’t fear the Reaper/Baby I’m your man…” I took that as saying take a chance at doing something dangerous, live, and don’t fear death. Like say the guy is taking his girl skydiving or bungie jumping.

    “I’m scared.”
    “Oh come on baby, don’t fear the reaper. Take my hand. We’ll be able to fly.”

    Of course if the person addressing her is the reaper, then it becomes a dark seduction, death itself saying “don’t be afraid of me and take my hand.”

    Songfacts goes with the not fearing death interpretation over suicide. Songfacts lets people post the “facts” though so who knows. Wikipedia, also reader-maintained, states that Don Roesner denies the suicide interpretation as well. Who knows. As my dad would probably say, “all these guys are on drugs.” ;)

  2. I don’t think the (repeated) reference to Romeo and Juliet and “come the last night of sadness” after the love of two is now one can mean anything other than suicide. Especially after she takes somebody’s hands and we ran to him…

  3. I always thought the song was about glamorizing suicide ala Romeo and Juliet. That kind of thing. I also always thought the song was over-rated.

    I’m glad to have read that link at Smoking Gun about the possibility that Smith was actually murdered. Not that I’m glad to think that he was murdered… it’s just that suicide by driving a knife into your chest is so horribly grizzly.