Favorite "( )" Songs #3 - "(Don't Fear) The Reaper"

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We are at the third spot in my Favorite "( )" Songs series, which is songs with parentheses in the title. Be sure to check out the country and rock versions that @FourWalls is doing as well. #3 is extremely obvious, but I love it: "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" by Blue Oyster Cult. Led by guitarists/vocalists Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma (Donald Roeser,) Blue Oyster Cult formed in 1967 as The Soft White Underbelly in Long Island, New York (the band would continue to use the Underbelly moniker for club shows in the 70's and 80's.) Taken from a poem written by manager Sandy Pearlman, Blue Oyster Cult became the official name in 1971. The band has sold more than 24 million albums worldwide. From their 1976 album, Agents of Fortune, "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" was released as an edited single, which reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #7 in Canada. The album version later peaked at #16 in the UK. Often considered a pro-suicide tune, writer Buck Dharma insists that is not the case, that it is "a love song where the love transcends the actual physical existence of the partners." The song figures prominently in the classic Saturday Night Live "More Cowbell" sketch (which Roeser claims he never tires of,) and Author Stephen King cites the tune as the inspiration for his novel, The Stand. "(Don't Fear) The Reaper" has been covered numerous times, notably by the Goo Goo Dolls, H.I.M., Big Country, Heaven 17, The Beautiful South, and Smithereens frontman Pat DiNizio. Sure, it's overplayed, but what can I say? I love it. It was even the ringtone on my old phone. And as everybody knows, you gotta have a cool ringtone. (Info verified by Wikipedia)