Behind the Sound Check-Inspired Dave Matthews Band Song “Ants Marching”

If you listen closely to the opening of the Dave Matthews classic track “Ants Marching,” you can figure out how the song was born. That big, bold repetitive hit from drummer Carter Beauford on his snare drum—smack…. smack…. smack…—indeed, anyone who’s ever participated in sound check before a live show will tell you: that’s the inescapable, omnipresent thwack of the work prior to live performance.

So, what did Dave Matthews and his band do with that very common smack? They turned it into a hit song about monotony. Let’s dive into more of the meaning and history of the song.

9-to-5

This song by Dave Matthews Band is all about drudgery and how that is no life at all, says Matthews. Released in 1995 on the group’s studio debut album, Under the Table and Dreaming, “Ants Marching” hit No. 18 on the Billboard Alternative Chart and Mainstream Rock Chart. It was recorded by Steve Lillywhite, a longtime collaborator with the group, for the LP.

The song was previously released as a live version, however, on the band’s 1993 live record, Remember Two T things, listeners can really hear the extended drum smacks in the song’s opening from Beauford.

Matthews, the South African-born, then-Charlottesville, Virginia-based artist wrote the song in 1991 about the commuting crowd and the drudgery of that unfulfilling life.

He wakes up in the morning / Does his teeth bite to eat and he’s rolling /Never changes a thing / The weekends, the week begins / She thinks, we look at each other / Wondering what the other is thinking / But we never say a thing / And these crimes between us grow deeper.

The 1990s

Like a lot of “alternative” art of the 1990s—with its long flannel shirts and snarky, cigarette-smoking attitude—songs featured digs at suburban life. Those “adults” who went to work and came back for dinner, watched the game, and went to bed.

“Ants Marching” shares that same ethic, poking holes at that lifestyle. It’s the same kind of angle that moves as Singles and Reality Bites showcased.

Driving in on this highway / All these cars and upon the sidewalk / People in every direction / No words exchanged / No time to exchange / When all the little ants are marching / Red and black antennas waving / They all do it the same / They all do it the same way.

Live Performances

While the song has become one of Matthews and his band’s most successful songs, commercially—it was all over the radio in the mid-90s—the song is also one that is loved live. At the height of the band’s popularity, the group would extend the song with sax solos from LeRoi Moore and violin solos from Boyd Tinsley. Sadly, both are no longer with the group.

Nevertheless, the song remains popular during the band’s seemingly never-ending tours. Since Dave Matthews is one of the highest-grossing touring artists, that means a lot of people got to wonder: Am I an ant? Hopefully many also said, No.

Photo by Rich Polk/Getty Images On Location