Bartender (Dave Matthews Band song)
Encyclopedia
"Bartender" is one of Dave Matthews Band
's most popular live songs, featured on their studio album Busted Stuff
. The song was one of the many that carried over from the near-abandoned project that is The Lillywhite Sessions
. If The Lillywhite Sessions album is considered a Dave Matthews Band studio album, then "Bartender" is the longest Dave Matthews Band song recorded, and the only one over ten minutes.
The song is about a man who, while talking to a bartender, deals with thoughts of his own death. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Matthews said he liked the concept of a bartender as a God/Jesus figure to which to confess and get absolution. The man talks to his family, telling them not to have certain feelings about him if he goes before his time. Fittingly, "Bartender" was the first song performed by the band after the August 2008 death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore
.
Structurally, the song starts with a single note introduction before moving into the lyrical section with march-style drumming by Carter Beauford
. After the lyrics finish, the song begins an extended jam session beginning with a loud climax featuring emotional, improvised vocals by Dave Matthews
. It then decrescendos into a pennywhistle
solo/outro, into which both Moore and his successor, Jeff Coffin
, have interpolated songs such as "If I Only Had a Brain
" (as heard on Live Trax Vol. 6
).
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band, sometimes shortened to DMB, is a U.S. rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was...
's most popular live songs, featured on their studio album Busted Stuff
Busted Stuff
Busted Stuff is the fifth album by Dave Matthews Band, released by RCA Records on July 16, 2002.Nine of the eleven tracks on this album are re-recorded versions of songs that first appeared on 2000's abandoned project now known as The Lillywhite Sessions. "Where Are You Going" and "You Never Know"...
. The song was one of the many that carried over from the near-abandoned project that is The Lillywhite Sessions
The Lillywhite Sessions
The Lillywhite Sessions is a collection of songs recorded by Dave Matthews Band in 1999 and 2000 and produced by Steve Lillywhite. The songs, recorded by the band as a follow-up to their 1998 album Before These Crowded Streets, were ultimately scrapped by the band...
. If The Lillywhite Sessions album is considered a Dave Matthews Band studio album, then "Bartender" is the longest Dave Matthews Band song recorded, and the only one over ten minutes.
The song is about a man who, while talking to a bartender, deals with thoughts of his own death. In an interview with the Rocky Mountain News, Matthews said he liked the concept of a bartender as a God/Jesus figure to which to confess and get absolution. The man talks to his family, telling them not to have certain feelings about him if he goes before his time. Fittingly, "Bartender" was the first song performed by the band after the August 2008 death of saxophonist LeRoi Moore
Leroi Moore
LeRoi Holloway Moore was an American saxophonist best known as a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band. Moore often arranged music for the songs written by frontman Dave Matthews...
.
Structurally, the song starts with a single note introduction before moving into the lyrical section with march-style drumming by Carter Beauford
Carter Beauford
Carter Anthony Beauford is an American drummer, percussionist, and founding member of Dave Matthews Band. He is known for his ability to adapt to a variety of genres, and both his ambidextrous and his open hand drumming styles. He plays the drums and sings backing vocals in the band...
. After the lyrics finish, the song begins an extended jam session beginning with a loud climax featuring emotional, improvised vocals by Dave Matthews
Dave Matthews
David John "Dave" Matthews is a South African–born American musician and occasional actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band...
. It then decrescendos into a pennywhistle
Tin whistle
The tin whistle, also called the penny whistle, English Flageolet, Scottish penny whistle, Tin Flageolet, Irish whistle and Clarke London Flageolet is a simple six-holed woodwind instrument. It is an end blown fipple flute, putting it in the same category as the recorder, American Indian flute, and...
solo/outro, into which both Moore and his successor, Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin
Jeff Coffin is an American jazz and alternative rock musician best known as the saxophonist for Dave Matthews Band and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. In addition to the saxophone, he plays clarinet, flute and oboe.-Biography:...
, have interpolated songs such as "If I Only Had a Brain
If I Only Had A Brain
"If I Only Had a Brain" is a song by Harold Arlen and E.Y. Harburg . The song is sung in the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz by the characters that meet Dorothy...
" (as heard on Live Trax Vol. 6
Live Trax Vol. 6
Live Trax Vol. 6, unofficially known as Live at Fenway Park, is the sixth installment in the Dave Matthews Band Live Trax series. It features a four disc set of the band's two night performance at Fenway Park in Boston from July 7 and 8, 2006...
).