“It was maybe not the place for it" — Garth Brooks reacts to fans chanting "Friends in Low Places" at Vatican's St Peter’s Basilica

Country singer and songwriter Garth Brooks was invited to perform at the World Meeting on Human Fraternity in St. Peter's Basilica, Vatican City, on May 11. The singer's acoustic performance included The River, The Change, Amazing Grace and Make You Feel My Love.

During the May 13 episode of Inside Studio G, Garth Brooks recalled fans singing his hit song Friends in Low Places, which he quipped was inappropriate, given the venue.

“It was maybe not the place for it but it was fabulous,” the singer laughingly admitted.

Friends in Low Places came out in 1990, topping the Hot Country Song charts for four weeks. It is one of Garth Brooks' most famous songs to date and even served as the name for the country singer's bar in Nashville.

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Garth Brooks met with Pope Francis during his visit to the Vatican

The World Meeting on Human Fraternity Conference was held under the theme #BeHuman in the Vatican on May 11, 2024. The conference housed over 350 dignitaries from all walks of life, including NASA Administrator, former astronaut and U.S. Senator Bill Nelson, Rappler CEO Maria Angelita Ressa, New York City Mayor Eric Adams, and NFL legend Tom Brady, to name a few.

According to CMT, the Fratelli Tutti Foundation asked Garth Brooks to perform at the conference, which the country singer obliged with a list of Vatican-approved songs.

Speaking to Inside Studio G on May 13, he marveled at people singing along to his rendition of Amazing Grace in English and Italian, calling it "unbelievably special" to perform in St Peter's Basilica.

"It was absolutely beautiful. Might be the most beautiful moment of music I've ever to be a part of because there was no instruments, there was nothing in the way. It was just one of the greatest songs ever written. It's one of the greatest melodies ever written, sang in different languages all at the same time," Garth Brooks recalled.

According to Taste of Country, Garth Brooks also expressed how the performance boosted his happiness as the Vatican encouraged him to be himself and embrace his flaws. He explained how the people at the conference shared a common goal of wanting to see a majority of the population live in peace.

The country singer met Pope Francis with the rest of the group on Saturday, where the Pope emphasized how children were the future, a sentiment the singer shared.

“What you find is we’re really not that different. You’re sitting at a table with [Nelson Mandela’s widow, Graca Machel] Mandela…the Cardinal [who led discussions]…Nobel Peace Prize winners and all we talked about were our children…the future…policy – stuff like that."

He added:

"What occurs to you is the borders that are between us are the walls we’ve built ourselves. And – it’s funny – the only ones who can take down those walls are the same people who built them.”

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The meaning behind Friends in Low Places

Friends in Low Places, while recorded by Garth Brooks, was originally written in 1989 by Earl Bud Lee and Dewayne Blackwell.

According to Neon Music, the song's name and theme came about when the two friends were having lunch at Tavern on the Row, a popular Nashville eatery. Lee, on realizing that he had forgotten his wallet, joked to his friend:

“Don’t worry. I have friends in low places. I know the cook.”

By the time the song was written, Garth Brooks was emerging as a country singer while supporting himself as a shoe salesman in Nashville. The song's demo was recorded at Windwalker Studios in Goodlettsville, Tennessee.

The narrative behind the song is a man crashing his ex's upscale black-tie event, out of place in his boots, which was portrayed in the song's first lyrics, "Blame it all on my roots, I showed up in boots/ And ruined your black tie affair."

The protagonist then says that he has "friends in low places." This phrase is interpreted as referring to the working-class people the narrator was friends with, in juxtaposition to the fancy event that he was crashing.

"'Cause I've got friends in low places/ Where the whiskey drowns and the beer chases my blues away/ And I'll be OK/ Yeah, I'm not big on social graces/ Think I'll slip on down to the oasis/ Oh, I've got friends in low places," Garth Brooks sang in the chorus.

Friends in Low Places is arguably Garth Brooks' biggest hit, winning the Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards for Single of the Year in 1990.