Pink Floyd member Roger Waters once said he “desperately wants to be Bob Dylan” and wrote a song in the style of the veteran performer.
Waters has long made Dylan’s influence on his work clear, and as recently as his live album, This is Not a Drill, shared how the Things Have Changed songwriter had affected his music. The Bar would lift words from Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, a heavy inspiration for the ex-Pink Floyd member, who once told Uncut Magazine he had been hoping to write in a similar style to the mastermind behind Blonde on Blonde. Speaking to the outlet in 2007, Waters said part of his creative process was “walking backwards to a simpler musical expression” in the hopes of finding a similar spark to that of his hero Dylan, but also Neil Young and John Prine. Waters also explained what his “driving force” for writing music was.
He said: “I find myself walking backwards to a simpler musical expression. There’s a part of me that desperately wants to be Neil Young, John Prine or Bob Dylan. When I sit alone at home now with a guitar, I’m often searching for the motherlode of that very simpley structured melody sequence.
“We’re always looking for Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door or Heart of Gold. There are those nuggets still there, in the 12 notes, available to us. Having said that, I’ve been telling people that I’m going to make a new LP for 13 or 14 years now. I’ve written a ton of songs and they’re all sitting there waiting. The motivation to finish something or go back into the studio will be political. I have a strong sense that the driving force will be my political passion.”
Waters would speak on Dylan’s influence during a gig in Prague which was later turned into a live album. The Pink Floyd founder and bassist suggested Dylan’s legendary closing song from Blonde on Blonde, Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, was a crucial part of his new song, The Bar.
Speaking to the audience after a performance of Two Suns in the Sunset, Waters confirmed he had the veteran songwriter behind Mr. Tambourine Man and Desolation Row to thank for his latest track, which has yet to receive a studio release. The performance of Two Suns in the Sunset forms part of Waters’ recent live album release, This is Not a Drill. On the album, Waters confirmed he was moved by Dylan’s classic track, and it’s not the first time he has shared his appreciation for the Nobel Prize for Literature winner.
Waters had already shared his love for the song in an interview with Howard Stern. He told the legendary disc jockey: “When I heard that, I thought, ‘Wow, if Bob can do it, I can do it.’” True to form, Waters has seemingly tried his hand at a mighty ballad on level with Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands with the inclusion of The Bar Part II on his live album release.
He said before playing the song at the gig in Prague: “Before we sing this other verse of The Bar, I have to mention three names. The first name is Bob Dylan. Back in 1966, Bob Dylan made a great album called Blonde on Blonde. It’s a double album, a double vinyl album, and side four was a long, incredibly beautiful ballad called Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.
“I’m not ashamed to say that it crept into my head when I was writing this verse. And so I stole some of the lyrics. Well, I didn’t steal them, but I used them. I used the words ‘sad, eyed,’ and ‘lady’, and ‘big, brass,’ and ‘bed’. If you know the song, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
“So, Bob, thank you. Anyone, if you run into Bob, could you say Roger says, ‘Thank you’.” Waters would go on to share the “sad-eyed lady” in the song is his wife, Kamilah Chavis. He added: “She is the rock upon which I lean. I think she’s actually here tonight, so she’ll hear you if you do that [cheer].”
