Roger Waters Explains ‘Shame-Related Lyrics’ Of His New Song ‘The Bar’

Pink Floyd icon Roger Waters shared his new song named ‘The Bar’ during one of his live performances as a part of his ongoing tour. The singer opened up about what inspired him to write this piece and unveiled the message behind his lyrics, referring to the feeling of shame.

Roger Waters’ new tour, This Is Not a Drill, was supposed to begin in 2020, but like almost every other artist and band worldwide, the singer had no choice but to postpone it because of the global pandemic. The fans had to wait for two years until they finally met Waters, whom they looked forward to watching live on the stage. The tour kicked off in Pittsburgh on July 6, 2022, and will end on October 15, 2022, in Mexico City.

The musician has performed Pink Floyd songs such as ‘Comfortably Numb,’ ‘Have A Cigar,’ ‘Wish You Were Here,’ and during his Ohio show on August 10, Waters introduced his latest work, ‘The Bar,’ a piano ballad with meaningful messages. Its lyrics, ‘Does everybody in the bar feel shame? / Lord knows I do/ I guess we all feel pretty much the same / Kind of worn out by this crazy f*cking zoo,’ drew significant attention due to their theme.

The lyrics seem to navigate several issues related to the shame people can feel because of drinking alone at a bar and the frustration of living in a zoo-like world. Although Waters didn’t mention the inspiration behind these words or why he chose to explore these feelings, he gave some clues about the general theme.

The singer stated that ‘The Bar’ can be seen as a safe space where you can be in touch with people and comfortably share your views, which is probably why he chose it as a setting. As for the two characters, towards the end of the song, they tell the story of a young woman helping an older homeless black woman by bringing her to the bar so that everyone there can ‘look after her.’

In Waters’ words, he said:

“‘The Bar’ is a place in my head, an imaginary place, but it’s also a real place. There are bars all over the world. In my head, it’s a place where you can maybe have a drink, certainly meet your friends, and hopefully meet strangers. You can exchange opinions with strangers and friends with no fear or favor, and it’s somewhere where you are welcome and can exchange your love for your fellow man without fear.

There are two characters towards the end of this little bit of this song, and they’re two women. One of them is a homeless Black lady who lives in a cardboard box somewhere with a chihuahua. The other younger lady, a Lakota Sioux from North Dakota, sees this lady and decides to cross over and help her. She helps by bringing her to the bar, where we all look after her.”

You can listen to the song below.