There are some Saturday Night Live skits that have not only stood the test of time but continue to make us cry with laughter. One of the best is undoubtedly the 2000 skit ‘More Cowbell’ featuring Will Ferrell and Christopher Walken.
The skit starts as a parody of VH1’s documentary series Behind The Music, and sees Will Ferrell and his band perform a recording of the song ‘(Don’t Fear The Reaper’ by Blue Oyster Cult. Throughout the performance, Ferrell’s producer Dickinson (played by Walken) interrupts to ask for “more cowbell,” despite it annoying the hell out of the rest of the band.
It’s an iconic skit but according to Ferrell, “it ruined” Christopher Walken’s life.
In a recent interview with Jimmy Fallon, Ferrell said, “Here’s the crazy thing. I go to see Christopher Walken years later, in a play.”
“I say hello to him backstage and he’s like, ‘You know, you’ve ruined my life.’”
Ferrell said Walken told him,“‘People during curtain call bring cowbells. The other day I went for Italian food for lunch, the waiter asked if I wanted more cowbell with my pasta bolognese.’”
“I think he’s really mad,” Ferrell admitted.
“From ‘The Deer Hunter’ to ‘Pulp Fiction’ to ‘More Cowbell,’” Ferrell told Fallon. “That’s all he gets.”
In a 2010 interview with Rolling Stone, Ferrell said the idea for ‘More Cowbell came from listening to the song ‘(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.’ “Every time I heard [the song], I would hear the faint cowbell in the background and wonder, ‘What is that guy’s life like?'”
The skit even had a lasting impact on members of Blue Oyster Cult. In a 2016 interview with The New York Times, co-vocalist Buck Dharma said the song had “been used as a go-to creepy thing, but Will Ferrell pretty much sabotaged that.”
20 years after it appeared on SNL, ‘More Cowbell’ continues to haunt Walken, and it’s no surprise really. The sketch is considered one of the best SNL has ever done and was ranked #9 on a list of the 50 best sketches by Rolling Stone.
We’ll take more cowbell any day of the week.