The Deathly Meaning Behind the Song “Bartender” by Dave Matthews Band

Around the turn of the 2000s, when a presumed new Dave Matthews Band album leaked on the internet, fans went nuts. Known then as The Lillywhite Sessions, the album was comprised of songs recorded in the late ’90s and early 2000s and they were produced by the band’s longtime producer Steve Lillywhite.

Though the songs leaked on early file-sharing sites, the band never released The Lillywhite Sessions, instead recording the more rock-centered 2001 LP, Everyday, in just ten days. Later, thankfully, the songs from The Lillywhite Sessions ended up on the 2002 album Busted Stuff from DMB.

One of the songs is the track “Bartender,” a song some might toss off as another alcohol-fueled number. But the song is much more than that. Let’s dive in.

Death and God

For those of us with experience drinking whiskey late into the night, ideas of God and death are assuredly to creep in at times. Mortality is part of life, after all. And elastic-voiced frontman Dave Matthews knows this well.

And when you think about those ideas—mortality, God, death—the idea of one’s own life comes into focus. Did I live well, will I be remembered? These questions inevitably circle the mind. That’s just what Matthews sings about.

If I go, before I’m old
Oh brother of mine, please don’t forget me if I go
Bartender, please fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus
That set Him free after three days in the ground

Oh and if I die, yeah
Before my time
Oh, sweet sister of mine
Please don’t regret me, if I die

Later Matthews adds,

Oh, and if this gold, should steal my soul away
Oh dear mother of mine, please redirect me if this gold…

The Bartender

Matthews, known for enjoying both a beverage and a joint (he sings about both often at his live shows), uses a metaphor for a higher power. God is our bartender, in a way.

Bartender, please fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus
That set Him free after three days in the ground
Bartender, please fill my glass for me
With the wine you gave Jesus
That set Him free after three days in the ground
In the ground

On bended knees, I pray, Bartender please
When I was young enough, I didn’t think about it
I just want to run and hide
On bended knees, Father please

Final Thoughts

For Matthews and DMB, this is one of the more serious songs in their catalog. It’s dire, and reflective. But it’s not a jaunt like “Satellite” or “Crash Into Me.” Here, Matthews is somber. A little drunk, maybe. But the metaphor is apt and thought-provoking. How will we be remembered? Will we? For even someone like Matthews, a globally famous artist, these questions resonate.

And so as a listener, they hit us hard, too. Especially so with each passing year.

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images On Location