Ants Marching

"Ants Marching" is a song by American rock group Dave Matthews Band. It was released in September 1995 as the second single from their debut album Under the Table and Dreaming. It reached #18 on the Alternative chart and on the mainstream rock chart as well. The song was considered a successful, hit single. A different recording of it was included on their prior album, Remember Two Things. This version was significantly longer, clocking in at 6:08. According to DMBAlmanac.com, the song is possibly one of DMB's best known songs, and Dave Matthews described it as being "our anthem." Dave Mathews wrote the music and lyrics prior to its first performance in 1991.

Content

The song is centered on the idea that people get caught up in the monotony of their everyday lives and forget to focus on what is truly important. The metaphor used is that people are like marching ants in the line, "All the little ants are marching, red and black antennae waving, they all do it the same, they all do it the same way." The title of Under the Table and Dreaming is derived from the verse:

Dave Matthews

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David John "Dave" Matthews (born January 9, 1967) is a South African-born American singer-songwriter, musician and actor, best known as the lead vocalist, songwriter, and guitarist for the Dave Matthews Band. Matthews was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to Westchester County, New York at the age of 2. Matthews mainly plays acoustic guitar, which he started playing at age 9.

From 1991 to 2003, Matthews predominantly focused on songwriting and performing with the Dave Matthews Band, which he started in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. Since then, he has also done various solo performances and produced other records. During the period from 2000 to 2010, his band sold more tickets and earned more money than any other act in North America. The band's most recent album, Away from the World, released in 2012, made them the only group to have six consecutive studio albums debut at number one on the Billboard charts.

Dave Matthews Band

Dave Matthews Band (often abbreviated to DMB) is an American rock band that was formed in Charlottesville, Virginia in 1991. The founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer/backing vocalist Carter Beauford and saxophonist LeRoi Moore. Boyd Tinsley was added to the band as a violinist soon after the band was formed. Moore died suddenly in August 2008 due to complications from injuries sustained in an ATV accident. Grammy Award-winner Jeff Coffin (of Béla Fleck and the Flecktones) has since filled Moore's spot as the band's saxophonist. Rashawn Ross and Tim Reynolds have also become full-time touring members of the band. The band's 2009 album Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King (the first album since Moore's death) debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, earning the band their fifth consecutive number-one debut. Their most recent album, Away from the World, released in 2012, debuted at number one on the Billboard chart — making them the only group to have six consecutive studio albums debut in the top spot. As of 2010, the Dave Matthews Band has sold over 30 million records worldwide.

Go Marching

Go Marching (1965 – August 10, 1994) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who was sired by the outstanding Champion sire Princequillo and out of the Champion racemare, Leallah. Bred by Charlton Clay at his Marchmont Farm near Paris, Kentucky, Go Marching was sold to Warner L. Jones, Jr. as an unnamed two-year-old colt in a May 1967 Fasig-Tipton sale at Belmont Park for a record price of $210,000.

Race career

Trained by U.S. Racing Hall of Fame inductee, Horatio Luro, at age three Go Marching won the first race of his career on March 7, 1968 at Florida's Gulfstream Park when he ran on turf for the first time. He went on to win the Bernard Baruch Handicap at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York and then had his best year at age four in 1969 when his wins included the Canadian Turf Handicap and the Appleton Handicap at Gulfstream Park.

Breeding career

Go Marching stood for his owner in Kentucky until age eleven. He was then sent to a breeding farm in France where he remained until age fourteen after which he was purchased by breeders who brought him to stand in Japan where he died on August 10, 1994. Overall, Go Marching met with modest success as a sire.

When Johnny Comes Marching Home

"When Johnny Comes Marching Home" (sometimes "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again") is a popular song of the American Civil War that expressed people's longing for the return of their friends and relatives who were fighting in the war.

Origins

The lyrics to "When Johnny Comes Marching Home" were written by the Irish-American bandleader Patrick Gilmore during the American Civil War. Its first sheet music publication was deposited in the Library of Congress on September 26, 1863, with words and music credited to "Louis Lambert"; copyright was retained by the publisher, Henry Tolman & Co., of Boston. Why Gilmore chose to publish under a pseudonym is not clear, but popular composers of the period often employed pseudonyms to add a touch of romantic mystery to their compositions. Gilmore is said to have written the song for his sister Annie as she prayed for the safe return of her fiancé, Union Light Artillery Captain John O'Rourke, from the Civil War, although it is not clear if the engagement already existed in 1863, as the two were not married until 1875.