Songfacts®:

• The lyrics refer to God. In the song, Matthews sings about seeking redemption at a bar in heaven where God is the bartender.
• Matthews actually was a bartender at Miller's in Charlottesville, Virginia. It's where he met a lot of the guys that ended up forming the Dave Matthews Band.
  
  Miller's was so important to the band that when they were inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame in 2024, Matthews invited owner Steve Tharp to the ceremony and said, "That bar was a great place for musicians. The guy that owned that bar is here: Steve Tharp, thanks for letting us put a band together."
  
  A trumpet player named John D'earth was also there and got a shoutout, with Matthews saying, "Thank you for encouraging me to take a tape of my music to Carter and Roi," referring to drummer Carter Beauford and sax player LeRoi Moore.
• "Bartender" was part of the "Lillywhite Sessions," a set of songs the band recorded with producer Steve Lillywhite but decided not to release because members of the band and the record label felt they were too depressing. The sessions were leaked on the Internet and widely bootlegged. The response from fans was enthusiastic, so they decided to release the songs on an album over a year after they were first recorded. The result was Busted Stuff, which was basically a re-recording of the original sessions.
• Dave Matthews started playing "Bartender" live in 1999 when he toured as a duo with Tim Reynolds, a longtime contributor to the Dave Matthews band who became an official member in 2008. He played it with The Dave Matthews Band starting in 2000, and the song was finally released in 2002.
  
  It's one of the songs on the Busted Stuff album that had been tested on the road and was already a fan favorite. Other songs on the album that had been played at shows include "Grey Street," "Where Are You Going?" and "Grace Is Gone."
• After this song was recorded and put on the shelf, Matthews collaborated with producer Glen Ballard on the album Everyday, which was released in 2001.
• Busted Stuff was the first album the band recorded without any guest musicians. It didn't have any big hits, but that didn't bother their throngs of fans; it was the third consecutive #1 album for Dave Matthews Band.