different drummer

plural different drummers

1. idiomaticuncommonuncountableusuallySomeone or something that implies individuality, originality, or nonconformity.

   If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

   1854, Henry David Thoreau, Walden, Or, Life in the Woods, page 342

   2 more examples

   Lou shows how these "different drummers," to use Benjamin Quarles's apt phrase, acted on the conviction that economic, social, and political equality demanded independent action.

   1988, William Henry Smith Memorial Library (contributor), Black History News & Notes, numbers 31-58, page 11

   refer to themselves and their associates as an army of different drummers who subscribe to a belief in the philosophical values and practical benefits of electronic self-governance.

   2002, Glen Browder, The Future of American Democracy, A Former Congressman's Unconventional Analysis, page 124