This song appeared on Dave Matthews Band’s 1994 album Under the Table and Dreaming.

It was the band’s second single from the album and has grown into the band’s signature song. Numerous dedicated DMB fans refer to themselves as “Ants” because of the track and it also inspired the name of one of its most popular fansites, Antsmarching.org.

According to Wikipedia, the song has been played at their live shows more than any other, and Dave Matthews has called it their “anthem.”

The video, released in 1995, was filmed in New York City.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNgJBIx-hK8

24 ContributorsAnts Marching Lyrics[Verse 1]
He wakes up in the morning
Does his teeth bite to eat and he's rolling
Never changes a thing
The week ends, the week begins
She thinks, we look at each other
Wondering what the other is thinking
But we never say a thing
These crimes between us grow deeper

[Pre-Chorus]
Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die

[Verse 2]
Goes to visit his mommy
She feeds him well his concerns
He forgets them
And remembers being small
Playing under the table and dreaming

[Pre-Chorus]
Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Verse 3]
Driving in on this highway
All these cars and upon the sidewalk
People in every direction
No words exchanged
No time to exchange

[Chorus]
When all the little ants are marching
Red and black antennae waving
They all do it the same
They all do it the same way

[Bridge]
Candyman tempting the thoughts of a
Sweet tooth tortured by the weight loss
Program cutting the corners
Loose end, loose end, cut, cut
On the fence, could not to offend
Cut, cut, cut, cut

[Pre-Chorus]
Take these chances
Place them in a box until a quieter time
Lights down, you up and die
[Instrumental Intro 03:10-04:19]
[Violin Solo]
[Saxophone Solo]

[Outro]
Lights down, you up and die9Embed

Ants Marching


Ants Marching


Written about a falling out with an old manager, the track is mainly focused around a saxophone solo following the end of the third verse.

The studio version segues into the next song on the record, “Say Goodbye”, a transition the band has repeated several times in a live setting.

Given its name because, according to Matthews, it was the 41st song written for the band. They never came up with a better title, so this one stuck, echoing a trend from “#34”.

14 Contributors#41 Lyrics[Verse]
Come and see
I swear by now I'm playing time against my troubles
Oh, I'm coming slow, but speeding
Do you wish a dance and while
I'm in the front
The play on time is won
Oh, but the difficulty's coming here

I will go in this way
And find my own way out
I won't tell you to begin
But I'm coming to much more
Me
All at once, the ghosts come back
Reeling in you now
Oh, what if they came down crushing?
Remember when I used to play for
All of the loneliness that nobody
Notices now
I'm begging slow, I'm coming here

Only waiting
I wanted to stay
I wanted to play
I wanted to love you
I'm only this far
And only tomorrow leads the way
I'm coming waltzing back and moving into your head
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also likePlease
I wouldn't pass this by
Oh, I wouldn't take any more than
What sort of man goes by?
I will bring water
Why won't you ever be glad?
It melts into wonder
I came in praying for you
Why won't you run
Into the rain and play
And let tears splash all over you?8Embed

#41


#41


12 ContributorsTwo Step Lyrics[Verse 1]
Say, my love, I came to you with best intention
You laid down to give to me just what I'm seeking
Say love, you drive me to distraction

[Verse 2]
Oh my love do you believe that we might last
A thousand years, or more if not for this
Our flesh and blood, it ties you and me right up
Tie me down, ah well

[Chorus]
Celebrate we will
Because life is short but sweet for certain
(Hey)
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
Things we cannot change

(Change)
(Why would I want to change it)
(Change)

[Verse 3]
Hey, my love, you came to me like
Wine comes to this mouth
Grown tired of water all the time
You quench my heart and, oh, you
Quench my mind and say
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Chorus]
Celebrate we will
'Cause life is short but sweet for certain
(Hey)
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
Things we cannot

[Bridge]
Celebrate (Celebrate we will)
Oh, you and me girl
(Climb on two by)
Climb on two by
(Climb on two by)
Two, to be sure
These days continue
Things we cannot change
Change
Change

[Verse 4]
Oh, my love I came to you
With best intention
You laid down to give to me
Just what I'm seeking
Say love, watch me celebrate together
[Chorus]
Celebrate we will
Cause life is short
But sweet for certain
(Hey)
We climb on two by two
To be sure these days continue
Things we cannot change

(Celebrate together)
Oh ho
(Climb on two by two)
(Climb on two by two)
(Celebrate these days come two)
Things we cannot change

[Outro]
[Lyrics are mostly indiscernible]
([?] we go)
([?] I took it all, I took it all)
(Woman I took it all)
([?] our love)
([?])
([?])5Embed

Two Step


Two Step


The third and final single from Busted Stuff, the second track off the album and fan favorite at shows.

The original version off The Lillywhite Sessions features added choruses with a bit of a different theme.

At live shows the song usually only has two verses, and two choruses with a jam after.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7O9Sf4P38oE

11 ContributorsGrey Street Lyrics[Verse 1]
Oh, look at how she listens
She says nothing of what she thinks
She just goes stumbling through her memories
Staring out onto Grey Street
She thinks, "Hey, how did I come to this?
I dream myself a thousand times around the world
But I can't get out of this place"

[Chorus]
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart

[Verse 2]
How she wishes it was different
She prays to God most every night
And though she swears it doesn't listen
There's still a hope in her it might
She says, "I pray
But they fall on deaf ears
Am I supposed to take it on myself?
To get out of this place?"

[Chorus]
There's loneliness inside her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It feels like cold blue ice in her heart
When all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Verse 3]
There's a stranger speaks outside her door
Says, "Take what you can from your dreams
Make them as real as anything
It'd take the work out of the courage"
But she says, "Please
There's a crazy man that's creeping outside my door
I live on the corner of Grey Street
And the end of the world"

[Chorus]
There's an emptiness inside her
And she'd do anything to fill it in
And though it's red blood bleeding from her now
It's more like cold blue ice in her heart
She feels like kicking out all the windows
And setting fire to this life
She could change everything about her
Using colors bold and bright
But all the colors mix together - to grey
And it breaks her heart
It breaks her heart
To grey2Embed

Grey Street


Grey Street


A fan favorite at shows, the song changes the progression several times through out it.

10 ContributorsWarehouse Lyrics[Intro]
Said I'm leaving
This warehouse frightens me
Got me tied up in knots, can't rest for one moment
Said I'm going
Now I'm slipping slow away
Hoping to find something better than I've got inside of here
And the warehouse slips away

[Instrumental]

[Verse]
Hey reckless mind
Don't throw away your playful beginnings
You and I, will fumble around in the touching
And be sure to leave all the lights on
So we can see the black cat changing colors
And we can walk under ladders
And swim as the tide turns you around and around  , love

Hey we have found
Becoming one in a million
Slip into the crowd
This question I found in a gap in the sidewalk
Keep all your sights on
Hey the black cat changing colors
And you can walk under ladders
And swim as the tide choose to turn you away
Said, Life goes on
End of tunnel, TV sets
Spot in the middle
Static fade, statistical bit
And soon I'll fade away, I'll fade away
Oh, but this I admit tastes so good
Hard to believe an end to it
Smell touch feel
How could this rhythm ever quit
Bags packed on a plane
Hopefully to heaven, yeah
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Instrumental]

[Verse]
Shut up I'm thinking
I had a clue, now it's gone forever
Sitting over these bones
You can read in whatever you're needing to
Keep all your sights on
Yeah man the black cat changing colors
When it's not the colors that matter
But that they'll all fade away
Yeah, yeah, yeah
Aye, Life goes on
End of tunnel, TV sets
Spot in the middle
Static fade, statistical bit
And soon I'll fade away, I'll fade away
Oh, and this I admit seems so good
Hard to believe an end to it
Warehouse is bare
Nothing at all inside of it
The walls and halls have disappeared
They've disappeared where?

Ooh, I'd love to stay, yeah
Ooh, I'd love to stay, yeah
Ooh, I'd love to stay, yeah
Ooh, I'd love to stay, yeah
In a corner and wondering
If a change can be better than this
Oh, and then worry
Maybe things won't be better than they have been here in the warehouse
At the warehouse
At the warehouse
Oh, how I'd love to stay here at the warehouse
Every man and woman, get alive

[Instrumental]

[Verse]
That's our blood down there
Seems poured from the hands of angels
But trickled into the ground
Leave the warehouse bare and empty
And my heart's numbered beats
Still echo in this empty room
And the fear wells in me
But nothing seems good enough to them
So I am going away
I'm going away
And I'm not giving in5Embed

Warehouse


Warehouse


“Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)” is the lead single from the Dave Matthews Band’s album Come Tomorrow.

The song originally debuted live in 2016 and is based off the notoriously bad movie Samurai Cop. The band shared the single officially on May 10, 2018:

https://twitter.com/davematthewsbnd/status/994552824410320898?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

11 ContributorsSamurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin) LyricsThe day you came
Naked, afraid
Young mother screams and pushes you
The day you came
Oh joy begin
Weak little thing
More precious there’ll be nothing, no
Oh joy begin

Let’s not forget these early days
Remember we begin the same
We lose our way in fear and pain
Oh joy begin

First just one step
One word and then
With laughter sing, oh life begin
First just one step

Let’s not forget these early days
Remembering we began the same
We lose our way in fear and hate
Oh joy begin

Innocent kiss
Black magic bliss
First broken bone
Sudden and swift
Oh innocence
Let’s not forget these early days
Remember we begin the same
We lose our way in fear and pain
Oh joy begin
Oh joy beginSee Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like1Embed

Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)


Samurai Cop (Oh Joy Begin)


The fifth and final single from 1994’s Under the Table and Dreaming, it stretched into the top 20 on Billboard’s Alternative Songs chart.

The music video was the third and final for an Under the Table song and features actor Johnny Galecki of “Roseanne” and “The Big Bang Theory” fame.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GAamgBPebsk

14 ContributorsSatellite Lyrics[Verse 1]
Satellite in my eyes
Like a diamond in the sky
How I wonder
Satellite strung from the moon
And the world your balloon
Peeping Tom for the mother station

[Chorus]
Winter's cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasen
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down, all around, hey satellite

[Verse 2]
Satellite headlines read
Someone's secrets you've seen
Eyes and ears have been
Satellite dish in my yard
Tell me more, tell me more
Who's the king of your satellite castle

[Chorus]
Winter's cold spring erases
And the calm away by the storm is chasen
Everything good needs replacing
Look up, look down, all around, hey satellite
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Refrain]
Rest high above the clouds no restriction
Television we bounce round the world
And while I spend these hours
Five senses reeling
I laugh about the weatherman's satellite eyes

[Verse 1] + [Chorus] + [Refrain]3Embed

Satellite


Satellite


The second single from the album Everyday and one of DMB’s highest-charting singles to date.

The song details two people who cannot be together, but still yearn to be.

12 ContributorsThe Space Between Lyrics[Verse 1]
You cannot quit me so quickly
There's no hope in you, for me
No corner you could squeeze me?
But I got all the time for you, love

[Hook]
The space between
The tears we cry
Is the laughter - keeps us coming back for more
The space between
The wicked lies we tell
In hope to keep safe from the pain

[Verse 2]
But will I hold you again?
These fickle, fuddled words confuse me
Like 'Will it rain today?'
Waste the hours with talking, talking
These twisted games we're playing

[Hook 2]
We're strange allies
With warring hearts
What a wild-eyed beast you be
The space between
The wicked lies we tell
In hope to keep safe from the pain
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Breakdown]
Will I hold you again?
Will I hold...
Look at us spinning out in
The madness of a roller coaster
You know you went off like
A devil in a church
In the middle of a crowded room
All we can do, my love
Is hope we don't take this ship down

[Hook 3]
The space between
Where you smile and hide
Is where you'll find me if I get to go
The space between
The bullets in our firefight
Is where I'll be hiding, waiting for you
The rain that falls
Splashed in your heart
Ran like sadness down the window into your room
The space between
Our wicked lies
Is where we hope to keep safe from pain
Take my hand
Cause we're walking out of here
Oh, right out of here
Is all we need dear
The space between
What's wrong and right
Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you
The space between
Your heart and mind
Is a space we'll fill with time
The space between
The tears we cry is the laughter keeps us coming back for more
The space between
Our wicked lies where we hope to keep safe from pain
The space between
The space between3Embed

The Space Between


The Space Between


Via MTV:

“Tripping Billies,” Matthews said, took its name from an episode years ago when he took acid on a South African beach. No sooner had he taken it than he decided he didn’t want to trip.

“But the acid said, ‘Too late!,’ ” Matthews said. Over the next few hours, he saw his girlfriend’s face turn into his mother’s, watched his hand melt and somehow lost his clothes.

The title is reportedly a reference to a comment once made to Matthews that his band sounds like “a bunch of hillbillies tripping on acid.”

12 ContributorsTripping Billies Lyrics[Verse 1]
We were above
You were standing underneath us
We were not yet lovers
Dragons were smoked
Bumblebees were stinging us
I was soon to be crazy

[Refrain]
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die

[Chorus]
'Cause we're tripping billies

[Verse 2]
We're wearing nothing
Nothing but our shadows
Shadows falling down on the beach sand
Remembering once, out on the beaches
We wore pineapple grass bracelets

[Pre-Chorus]
So why would you care
To get out of this place?
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Chorus]
Cause we're tripping billies

[Verse 3]
We are all sitting
Legs crossed 'round a fire
My yellow flame, she dances
Tequila drinking
Oh, our minds will wonder
To wondrous places

[Pre-Chorus]
So why would you care
To get out of this place?
You and me and all our friends
Such a happy human race

[Refrain]
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Take it up, Boyd
Yeah, yeah, yeah

[Instrumental Break]
[Refrain]
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die
Eat, drink, and be merry
For tomorrow we'll die, yeah

[Instrumental Outro]1Embed

Tripping Billies


Tripping Billies


The song is about altered states of consciousness brought about by the use of chemical substances, particularly how they aren’t always a bad thing, as other DMB songs might suggest.

Via MTV:

“A Jimi thing in some places is a condom,” Matthews said. But for him, he said, it was a temporary song title that stuck. “It was kind of reminiscent of the early days of Jimi Hendrix, and we didn’t have any names for any of the songs, so we called it the ‘Jimi thing.’ ”

The song was released as a single from Under the Table and Dreaming.

10 ContributorsJimi Thing LyricsLately I've been feeling low
A remedy is what I'm seeking
Take a taste of what's below
Come away to something better
What I want is what I've not got
But what I need is all around me
Reaching searching never stop
And I'll say...

If you could keep me floating just for a while
'Til I get to the end of this tunnel...mummy
If you could keep me floating just for a while
I'll get back to you

Take a Jimi Thing
Just to keep me swingin'
I'd like to show you what's inside
I shouldn't care if you don't like it
Brother chaos rules all about
Sometimes I walk there
Sometimes, God knows, I take a bus there
I should't care I shouldn't care bereaved as
I'm feeling
The day is gone I'm on my back
Starin' up at the ceiling
I take a drink, sit back and relax
Smoke my mind makes me feel
Better for a small time
What I want is what I've not got
What I need is all around me
Reaching searching never stop
And I'll say
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also likeIf you could keep me floating just for a while
'Til I get to the end of this tunnel...mummy
If you could keep me floating just for a while
I'll get back to youEmbed

Jimi Thing


Jimi Thing


12 ContributorsCrush Lyrics[Verse 1]
Crazy how it feels tonight
Crazy how you make it all alright love
You crush me with the things you do
I do for you anything too
Sitting smoking feeling high
In this moment it feels so right
Lovely lady
I am at your feet
God I want you so badly
I wonder this
Could tomorrow be
So wondrous as you there sleeping
Let's go drive 'till morning comes
Watch the sunrise to fill our souls up
Drink some wine 'til we get drunk

[Chorus]
It's crazy I'm thinking
Just knowing that the world is round
Here I'm dancing on the ground
Am I right side up or upside down
Is this real or am I dreaming

[Verse 2]
Lovely lady
Let me drink you please
I won't spill a drop I promise you
Lying under this spell you cast on me
Each moment
The more I love you
Crush me
Come on
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Lovely lady
I will treat you sweetly
Adore you I mean you crush me
It's times like these
When my faith I feel
And I know how I love you
Come on
Lady

[Chorus 2]
It's crazy I'm thinking
Just as long as you're around
And here I'll be dancing on the ground
Am I right side up or upside down
To each other we'll be facing by love
We'll beat back the pain we've found
You know I mean to tell you all the things I've been thinking
Deep inside my friend
With each moment the more I love you
Crush me
Come on
So much you have given love
That I would give you back again and again
Meaning I'll hold you
And please let me always4Embed

Crush


Crush


The third and final single from Big Whiskey and the GrooGrux King, looking at a romantic couple and the adventures they’ll face over the course of a lifetime and beyond.

The band performed the song as part of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards in 2010 (below), when the group was nominated for Album of the Year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6t78OW-yhM

9 ContributorsYou and Me Lyrics[Verse 1]
Wanna pack your bags, something small
Take what you need and we'll disappear
Without a trace, we'll be gone, gone
The moon and the stars will follow the car
And then, when we get out to the ocean
We're gonna take a boat to the end of the world
All the way to the end of the world

[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly

[Chorus]
You and me together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together, yes, yes
You and me together
We can do anything, baby
You and me together, yes, yes

[Verse 2]
You and I, we're not tied to the ground
Not falling, but rising, like rolling around
Eyes closed above the rooftops
Eyes closed, we're gonna spin through the stars
Our arms wide as the sky
We gonna ride the blue all the way to the end of the world
To the end of the world
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, and when the kids are old enough
We're gonna teach them to fly

[Chorus]
You and me together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together, yes, yes
You and me together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together, yes, yes

[Bridge]
We can always look back at what we did
Always the memory of you and me, baby
But right now it's you and me forever, girl
And you know we could do better than anything that we did
You know that you and me, we could do anything

[Chorus]
You and me together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together, yeah, yeah
Two of us together
We could do anything, baby
You and me together, yeah, yeah
Two of us together
Yeah, yeah
Two of us together
We could do anything, baby
[Outro]
Something small
Until we reach the end of the world3Embed

You and Me


You and Me


The mysterious, oft-romantic and a little creepy “Crash Into Me” is the third single off of the album Crash and one of the Dave Matthews Band’s most popular songs of all time. In the years since its release, it has become noteworthy for its continuing popularity, despite being as many describe it, “schlocky and largely irredeemable.”

While often remembered as “a sexy ballad, full of both sorrow and dread, all about pining over someone from afar”, and a popular choice for slow dance music at proms and such, the song actually has a creepier meaning upon close inspection. As Dave alludes to during a 1999 appearance on the VH1 show Storytellers, the song is about the worship of women, and more specifically about a stalker/peeping tom/voyeur type:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW25UqwlRsk

“Crash Into Me” has also been used in different media, including on the TV show The Office, and notably as an emotional lynchpin in the 2017 movie Lady Bird.

37 ContributorsCrash Into Me Lyrics[Verse 1]
You've got your ball, you got your chain
Tied to me tight, tie me up again
Who's got their claws in you my friend?
Into your heart I'll beat again
Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock, and sweet you roll
Lost for you, I'm so lost, for you

[Chorus]
Oh, when you come
Crash into me
And I come into you
And I come into you
In a boy's dream, in a boy's dream

[Verse 2]
Touch your lips just so I know
In your eyes, love, it glows so
I'm bare boned, and crazy for you

[Chorus]
Oh, when you come
Crash into me
Yeah, baby, when I come into you
In a boy's dream, a boys dream
See Dave Matthews Band LiveGet tickets as low as $71You might also like[Verse 3]
If I've gone overboard
Then I'm begging you
To forgive me for my haste
When I'm holding you so girl
Close to me
And you come
Crash into me, baby
And I come into you

[Verse 4]
Hike up your skirt a little more
And show the world to me
Hike up your skirt a little more
And show your world to me
A boy's dream, in a boys dream
Oh I watch you there
Through the window
And I stare at you
You wear nothing but you
Wear it so well
Tied up and twisted
The way I'd like to be
For you, for me, come crash
Into me
Baby, come crash into me, yeah
Crash into me
Crash into me
[Outro]
Oh, you know
I'm king of the castle
You're my dirty rascal
Crash into me
Please crash into me baby
We both know
See the way, come crash into me
See the way you come rash into me
Crash into me
Oh no no no no hey
Oh no no no no hey, yeah15Embed

Crash Into Me


Crash Into Me