Bartender meaning

[firedancer86]

This is of of a site i found and is only one interpitation of the song...nonetheless, interesting;

BARTENDER
History:
*original tune that developed from intro to Don't Drink the Water
*debuted live on Dave and Tim Reynolds, winter 1999 tour
01/29/99 Landmark Theatre,
Syracuse, New York
*debuted live full band on summer 2000 tour
06/19/00 Polaris Ampitheatre,
Columbus, Ohio

Fast Facts:
*used at many 1999 Dave & Tim Reynolds acoustic shows as intro to Don't Drink the Water

Meaning/Interpretation:
*The meaning behind this song is not easy to explain conscisly, but if you hang in there, you're appreciation for this song will grow even stronger, regardless of your religious affiations
*This is a song without a douibt about the tough times Dave was having just prior to (1999) and during the recording of the LWS (2000). It is a emotional, painful, powerful and ultimately uplifting cry for help from a higher being. This nearly ten minute epic has become a DMB live classic and has left many LWS doubters with their lower-jaws on the floor.
*Dave was raised as a devout Quaker, but he has admitted that he pretty much abandoned his former religion after the sudden death of his sister Anne in South Africa in 1993. He continues to be interested in and often seems to yearn to participate in a variety of religions that intrique him. One such religion is the Christian religion.
*In this song, Dave is making a plea to God to save him from his misery and the temptations that surround him in his everyday life. He knows the power and temptation of money in his life and does not want to end up like Judas (one of Jesus' twelve disciples, who betrayed Jesus following the last supper by accepting gold in return for identifing Jesus for the mob that would eventually crucify Him on the cross). Dave says to the bartender (God) that the wine (Dave is known to and has admitted to drinking heavily during times of hardship in his life) that's consuming his life and making him miserable flows from the same river of corrruption that haunted Judas and caused him to betray Jesus and himself...and later to commit suicide ("Came from the vine that strung Judas/From the Devil's tree's roots deep, deep in the ground"). Dave asks God to:
"Fill my glass for me/With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free/After three days in the ground." In other words, he is asking for the same love and compassion that God gave to his son Jesus after his crucifiction. God loved Jesus so much that He resurrected (brought back) Jesus from the dead. God wanted to save His son because he had "taken away the sins of the world" and Matthews (although he hasn't done anything that spectacular, he was just going through a rough time) feels unworthy of God's acceptance and is asking for that type of love from God in his time of need.

the site i got this from also has other LWS interps. too; here is the link if anybody is interested

http://dmbshnhavenii.net/lws/bartender/Bartender.htm

[jpittman]

This really belongs more in General DMB ... moved.

[dmfollower]

"Fill my glass for me/With the wine you gave Jesus that set him free/After three days in the ground. In other words, he is asking for the same love and compassion that God gave to his son Jesus after his crucifiction. God loved Jesus so much that He resurrected (brought back) Jesus from the dead. God wanted to save His son because he had "taken away the sins of the world" and Matthews (although he hasn't done anything that spectacular, he was just going through a rough time) feels unworthy of God's acceptance and is asking for that type of love from God in his time of need. "

i think you have a pretty good example of a meaning to bartender, but it think maybe dave just wants some of the wine that God gave jesus so that he would have everlasting life.
its an awesome song, bartender and grace is gone are almost two in the same. i think dave probably was having a real problem with drinking before his wife had "twin" girls. i know i would/do(have a drinking problem).

[skiizalot]

If I where a theologian I would probably interpret Bartender like this
Bartender is an obvious reference to the God of the Bible. Obvious, only because the reference to Jesus. The wine that is mentioned is a metaphorically a reference to the Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead after three days in the garden tomb.
The reason that he thinks about it now and cannot get it out of his mind is he no longer feels the invincibility of youth and realizes that he will one day die. The Bible says that it is appointed once for man to die, and then the judgment.

Jesus said that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Dave is likely familiar with the verse and perhaps his wealth concerns him.
As far as the wine that’s drinking him coming from the vine that strung Judas, I believe that this is a metaphorical reference to the sinful nature of man. The Bible says that from the time you are born, until you die, you are a sinner. The only redemption from sin is the shedding of blood. God came in the flesh to die on a cross for the sins of man, shedding his blood for the redemption of every person that has ever walked on the earth. That is the Biblical way in which one attains eternal life. Simple isn’t it.

[Speenis]

I'm just glad i went to that polaris show that it debuted at with a full band along with grey street, sweet up and down, and one other i think. I was amazed by grey street the first time i heard it, and SUAD sounded funky and cool as hell.

[deeds79]

The bartender is God the Father, hes asking him to fill his glass (dave or the singers spirit) with the wine that raised Jesus after he was crusified 3 days later. So that he too can be saved. Hes also telling his family members not to worry for him if he dies because hes been saved. And Judas is the deciple that was the "cashier" for the 12 deciples who turned Jesus in for money, causing Jesus to be crusified. Then hung himself from a tree.

Just my interpretation, everyones is different, and I heard a version of the song from Austin City Limits where Dave says that he played the song for Mack Davis who says he cant wait to hear it when its done. Dave already thought it was. lol