# The Ants Go Marching

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 13, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168 "2001-11-13T19:35:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Spudo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Spudo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spudo)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168/1 "2001-11-13T19:35:54Z")

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I’ve been wondering about the tune from the rhyme “The Ants Go Marching” (you know, the ants go marching on by on etc.) Has the tune been used in anything else, or is it itself something else than the person who thought up the ant thing decided to use?

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**Author:** ![deb2world](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@deb2world](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deb2world)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168/2 "2001-11-13T19:54:00Z")

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The tune is “When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again”. This song dates back to the Civil War.

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**Author:** ![Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angel_of_the_lord/32/2949_2.png) [@Angel\_of\_the\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Angel_of_the_Lord)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168/3 "2001-11-13T22:02:56Z")

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Gah!

I don’t know where the tune comes from on my own, but now I have it stuck in my head!

Thanks sooooo much, **Spudo**. :rolleyes:

😉

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**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\
**Post date:** [November 13, 2001, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168/4 "2001-11-13T23:05:22Z")

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Dammit, I thought this was a cleverly-titled Dave Matthews thread.

Rose

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**Author:** ![JubilationTCornpone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee59a6/32.png) [@JubilationTCornpone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JubilationTCornpone)\
**Post date:** [November 14, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-ants-go-marching/93168/5 "2001-11-14T05:14:37Z")

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Woah.

The Ants lyrics featured in tonight’s Buffy episode… and based on the timestamp on the OP, it looks like Spudo posted before the episode aired.

Woah.