march to (the beat of) a different drummer

To behave or do things in a manner that does not conform to the standard, prevalent, or popular societal norm. My brother eschewed the idea of a full-time career, taking all kinds of different oddball jobs. But then he's always been happy marching to the beat of a different drummer. Look, I respect the fact that you like to march to a different drummer, but do you have to do everything in such contrarian ways?

See also: beat, different, drummer, march, to

march to a different beat

To do something, act, or behave in a manner that does not conform to the standard, prevalent, or popular societal norm. My brother's eschewed the idea of a full-time career and has had every oddball job you could think of, but then he's always been happy marching to a different beat. Look, I respect the fact that you like to march to a different beat, but do you have to make a point of doing everything in a contrarian way?

march to (the beat of) a different drummer

Fig. to believe in a different set of principles. John is marching to a different drummer, and he doesn't associate with us anymore. Since Sally started marching to the beat of a different drummer, she has had a lot of great new ideas.

march to a different beat

Also, march to a different drummer. Act independently, differ in conduct or ideas from most others, as in Joe wanted to be married on a mountain top-he always marches to a different beat, or Sarah has her own ideas for the campaign; she marches to a different drummer. This idiom, alluding to being out of step in a parade, is a version of Henry David Thoreau's statement in Walden (1854): "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer." It came into wide use in the mid-1900s.

march to a different tune

BRITISH or

march to a different drummer

mainly AMERICAN

If someone marches to a different tune, they behave differently from most people or have different beliefs about what is morally right. Throughout his whole career, Clough marched to a different tune. As a player, Lindner has always marched to a different drummer. Note: You can also say that someone marches to the beat of a different drummer. He is a leader who marches to the beat of quite a different drummer.

march to (the beat of) a different tune (or drum or drummer)

consciously adopt a different approach or attitude to the majority of people; be unconventional. informal

The version with drummer comes ultimately from Henry David Thoreau's Walden ( 1854 ): ‘If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer’.

1997 New Scientist In formulating his ideas about the composition of the fundamental building blocks of matter…Sternglass has marched to the beat of an entirely different drum.

march to (the beat of) a different ˈdrummer/ˈdrum

(also march to a different ˈtune less frequent) behave in a different way from other people; have different attitudes or ideas: She was a gifted and original artist who marched to a different drummer.

See also: different, drum, drummer, march, to

march to (the beat of) a different drummer, to

To follow principles quite different from those of most others. This term, which became current in the mid-twentieth century, actually has its source in the last chapter of Thoreau’s Walden (1854): “If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.” Thoreau, champion of individualism, was hailed by the antiestablishmentarians of the 1960s in particular, who picked up a version of his phrase. Quoting a business executive, Connie Bruck wrote in a 1990 New Yorker article, “We saw ourselves . . . as the tough guys, very smart, who were marching to our own drummer.”