Blue Öyster Cult have been described as heavy metal, light metal, psychedelic rock, occult rock, acid rock, and progressive rock. They have also been recognized for helping pioneer genres such as stoner metal and speed metal.
The band is influenced by artists such as Alice Cooper, Grateful Dead, The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, MC5, The Blues Project, Jimi Hendrix, and Black Sabbath.
While Blue Öyster Cult has been noted for heavy rock, they would often add their own tongue-in-cheek style. Keeping with their image, the band would often include out-of-context fragments of Pearlman’s The Soft Doctrines of Imaginos into their lyrics, giving their songs cryptic meanings. Additionally, the band would keep a folder of Meltzer’s and Pearlman’s word associations to insert into their music.
Blue Öyster Cult's longest-lasting and most commercially successful lineup included Donald "Buck Dharma" Roeser (lead guitar, vocals), Eric Bloom (lead vocals, "stun guitar," keyboards, synthesizers), Allen Lanier (keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals), Joe Bouchard (bass, backing vocals), Albert Bouchard (drums, percussion, backing vocals). The band's current lineup includes Roeser and Bloom, as well as Danny Miranda (bass, backing vocals), Jules Radino (drums, percussion) and Richie Castellano (keyboard, rhythm guitar, backing vocals).
Harvester of Eyes
Blue Öyster Cult Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And I see all there is to see
When I look inside your head
Right up front to the back of your skull
Well that's my sign that you are dead
And my list for you checks off as null
I'm the harvester of eyes
I'm the eye man of TV
With my ocular TB
I need all the peepers I can find
Inside the barn where you find the hay
Well just last week I took a ride
So high on eyes, I almost lost my way
I'm the harvester of eyes
Harvester of eyes, that's me, harvester of eyes
And I see all there is to see, harvester of eyes
When I look inside your head, harvester of eyes
Right up front to the back of your skull, harvester of eyes
The lyrics of Blue Öyster Cult's "Harvester of Eyes" talk about a character who takes pleasure in collecting people's eyes. The lyrics suggest that the singer has the ability to see beyond the physical aspects of a person and into their mind. The singer sees everything that his victim sees, and he enjoys it. He believes that his ability to see directly into people's minds makes him the "eye man" of television.
The song suggests an element of horror and psychopathy. The singer could possibly be a supernatural being or a mental patient who is obsessed with eyes. The song's mood and lyrics are chilling, and they suggest that the singer has no mercy for his victims. The last line of the song reinforces the horror aspect of the lyrics as the last line repeats, "Harvester of eyes".
Line by Line Meaning
Harvester of eyes, that's me
I am the one who collects and takes away eyes from people.
And I see all there is to see
I have a keen sense of awareness and can see everything around me.
When I look inside your head
I have the ability to see inside your mind and understand your thoughts.
Right up front to the back of your skull
I can see everything that goes on in your head, from the front to the back.
Well that's my sign that you are dead
If I see everything in your head, it means you're no longer using your brain and are essentially dead to me.
And my list for you checks off as null
If you're dead to me, there's no reason to keep you on my list of people to observe.
I'm the eye man of TV
I'm the one who controls what people see on TV, effectively influencing their thoughts and opinions.
With my ocular TB
I have a powerful eye disease that allows me to see everything.
I need all the peepers I can find
I require as many people as possible to give me their eyes to fuel my power and control.
Inside the barn where you find the hay
I hide in unexpected places, such as a barn, waiting to collect as many eyes as I can.
Well just last week I took a ride
Recently, I collected so many eyes that it almost became overwhelming for me to handle.
So high on eyes, I almost lost my way
The amount of power I received from collecting so many eyes temporarily disoriented me and took me off my path.
Harvester of eyes, that's me, harvester of eyes
I am the one who collects and takes away eyes from people.
And I see all there is to see, harvester of eyes
I have a keen sense of awareness and can see everything around me.
When I look inside your head, harvester of eyes
I have the ability to see inside your mind and understand your thoughts.
Right up front to the back of your skull, harvester of eyes
I can see everything that goes on in your head, from the front to the back.
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: DONALD ROESER, E BLOOM, R MELTZER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@Desdinova69
Harvester of eyes, that's me
And I see all there is to see
When I look inside your head
Right in front to the back of your skull
Well that's my sign that you are dead
My list for you checks off as null
I'm the harvester of eyes
I'm the eyeman of TV
With my ocular TB
I need all the peepers I can find
Inside the barn where you find the hay
Well just last week I took a ride
So high on lies, I almost lost my way
I'm the harvester of eyes
Harvester of eyes, that's me....harvester of eyes
And I see all there is to see...harvester of eyes
When I look inside your head....harvester of eyes
Right in front to the back of your skull
harvester of eyes 5x
My-my-my-my-my
My-my-my-my-my
My-my-my-my-my-my
I'm the harvester of eyes
I'm just walkin' down the street
I see a garbage can, I pick it up
I look through all the garbage
To see if there are any eyes inside
I'll put 'em in my pink leather bag
And take all their eye balls
And I bleed with 'em
As I plead with their eyes all night
So if you see me walkin' down the street
You'd better get out of the way
And put on your eye glasses
'cause I'm gonna take your eyes home with me
@heavyrocker58
Blue Oyster Cult Lyrics
"Harvester Of Eyes"
Harvester of eyes, that's me
And I see all there is to see
When I look inside your head
Right up front to the back of your skull
Well that's my sign that you are dead
And my list for you checks off as null
I'm the harvester of eyes
I'm the eyeman of TV
With my ocular TB
I need all the peepers I can find
Inside the barn where you find the hay
Well just last week I took a ride
So high on eyes, I almost lost my way
I'm the harvester of eyes
Harvester of eyes, that's me....harvester of eyes
And I see all there is to see...harvester of eyes
When I look inside your head....harvester of eyes
Right up front to the back of your skull....harvester of eyes
@Drewgamer89
Having grown up in an age where rap/hip-hop/pop music is what's "popular" (21 years old), I must say I don't care for most of the music that comes out these days; but I absolutely love music like Blue Oyster Cult. May the classics live on forever.
@anniedarkhorse6791
Good on you. Pass the word to your kids. This music must never die.
@elfman5176
Face it everything they did was under rated. My favorite rock band ever.Even the newer stuff..Buck is so awesome.
@WunderChancellor
OBSERVANT!
@elfman5176
Thanks dude
@CB-fn3me
The majority of good bands and artists are in general under rated because if the music is too advanced or complicated most people simply don't understand it!
E.g. Beyonce (nothing wrong with her shows as such, I've worked one of her gigs and they are truly spectacular in their own right requiring 50 trailers of equipment, more than even a band like Pink Floyd...) easily sells 50 000 tickets at a Football Stadium while bands like BÖC and Rush have problems selling 5000 to fill a Hockey Arena even in a city that has 500 000 inhabitants.There are of course a few exceptions but very few of the really good bands make it to Stadium Level audiences, get a lot of Air-Time or sell tons of records.
.
Adrian Belew once said (paraphrasing):: "When I was young I thought that all you had to do to sell records was to make great music but now I know that that is not necessarily the case…"
He was of course correct in that statement! If you want to make a lot of money playing music you should keep it simple and target the 84% of humanity that have an IQ under 115 and not the other 16%.
@raymatthews3796
The real problem is that the huge corporations that run the music industry love mediocrity and performers who are members of "the beautiful people ", those whose looks outweigh their musical talent. The true musicians will never stand a snowball's chance in Hades of being recognized by that crowd. Look how long it took for Deep Purple to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There are still many deserving bands who belong there.
@elfman5176
So right. I mean the only reason BOC did sell millions of albums was their pure talent and word of mouth.
@zappageektube
Classic Cult rules! Sure the big hits were great money makers and I am happy for them - but Secret Treaties pushed thier creativity to the limit. Can't tell you how many times I put the stylus to the vinyl on this album. As a teen from the mid 70's to the 14 year old in the previous comment - you totally get it! Rock on!
@anniedarkhorse6791
I agree. The first three 'Black and White Albums' are my favourites. So great.