TOTO "africa" classic or dud

I've always thought that verse specifically to be so convoluted and awkward in syntax that I could never figure out why they never gave it another pass. But hey, it was a hit, so what do I know. Still:

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become

That's as head-scratcher wacky as "We Built This City," or, hmm:

And now it's all right, it's okay
And you may look the other way
We can try to understand
The New York Times' effect on man

yeah kilimamjaro rising like another *much smaller* mountain has always been lol to me

olympus is like half the size!

I thought it was riding like an empress but I like lepress much better

Olympus is, at least, a mountain that does in fact rise above its surrounding plain. As Kilimanjaro rises above its surrounding plain.

This is tangential because synth flute = classic.

Also a female leopard is a leopardess.

A lepress would be a female leper.

I always thought it was "rises like an empress". Olympus sucks. Song ruined.

Imagine a rising lepress, body parts corroded and raining down on the unfortunate residents of the Serengeti

Never really noticed the oxymoronic "solitary company."

Wish I could find a clip of Zoey Deschanel and Nelson Franklin singing "Africa" on New Girl as a campfire singalong from this season.

https://sizemattersscience.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/mountains.png

on top of everything that has been mentioned, I just realized that "above the Serengeti" is an ambiguous modifier

the phrasing to make it fit is hilarious

above the seeeeeerengetiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

sure as Kiliman-jair-oooooooo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LwJWPz1K-UY

^hint, Affiance - starting the verse up an octave tends to diminish the impact of the chorus

I remember when were teens, we always thought the chorus was "I guess the rain's down in Africa", I guess because it sounds a lot more natural than "I bless the rains". But as pointed out, this song is hardly the Kilimanjaro of naturalistic lyrics...

The rain in African stays mainly in the plafrica

I hear "lepress" too. Right or wrong, I love the image of a sort of elegant female leper that it evokes.

I get to sing the chorus of this song in a cover band bc I'm the one who can sing high. It's fun to sing. I'd still like to know why it's "Gonna take some time to do the things we never HAD" the fuck?

lol

Waiting for your Love (the track just before Africa on the LP?) is such a jam

Awful

The "Despacito" connection http://pca.st/episode/0949df36-895c-4af5-8254-b3c252f37581?t=1294

The guy is missing that it's actually one of the most common pop progressions of all time, it's just that the third chord is what is usually the first chord. It's the Closing Time progression, aka When I Come Around progression.

Always been "lepress" for me too. Which works much better than Olympus

Africa is one of the few top hits of the 80's which I unashamedly love.

it reminds me of riding around in my parents' shitty Nova and I was always enamored with the synth sounds

Maybe if I'd heard it at my age now I would say dud but I heard first as a tiny person and now it's part of the fabric of life so classsssic

"Rises like a Memphis." Either one, you know: Egypt or Tennessee. One Memphis.

"Rosanna" > "Africa"

Well, yeah.

Xxxpost you mean Olympus?

were Toto the least photogenic band of all time?

https://30daysout.files.wordpress.com/2008/08/toto-the-early-days.jpg

Great song tho (although yes, "Rosanna" is better)

All but one of the guys in that photo looks like a Slightly Creepy Uncle from the 70s. Works at Radio Shack, or maybe is just a really good customer of Radio Shack. Lives in his parents' basement, but because it has a separate entrance he pretends it's kind of like an apartment. Drives an El Camino.

The exception is Blondo McWhitesuit (David Hungate?). He looks like an aspiring soap opera actor who is slightly too handsome to be a credible bartender.

Rises like a Lepus

Yet another 70s horror reference from toto

oh so that's the podcast i have been hearing about, i am like mostly unimpressed after actually listening to it, it verges on heinous at points

I like 'Africa', 'Hold the Line' and 'Rosanna', but on the whole I'm one of those people that's not really into the work of Toto as songwriters/a recording act in their own right, but I rate them supremely highly as musicians and love their work on other people's records.

Why is it that supergroups of "top flight professional studio musicians" never hire a top flight professional lyricist?

Because (since the advent of marginally competent singer-songwriters in the mid-1960s) "professional lyricists" mostly don't write memorable or even ?

Pete Brown = okay with some duds.

Robert Hunter = pretty good with some duds.

Bernie Taupin = mostly terrible with some gems.

Neil Peart = um. Huh?

When I think of lyricists my mind goes to W.S. Gilbert, Oscar Hammmerstein, Lorenz Hart, Ira Gershwin, Richard Adler. Gerry Goffin? From thenceforward I struggle to think of people who are doing just that and doing it well.

*or even good lyrics?

Yeah, I was half-joking, I just think it's funny how a band built around the concept of having people who are at the absolute top of their craft also completely sucks at one key aspect.

It's the easiest aspect to overlook, because for most listeners, who cares?

I think Paich is a professional songwriter? I don't really think these lyrics fail as pop lyrics.

OK lol saw the discussion upthread; clearly some people put more thought into these lyrics than I did.

Scansion on "Serengeti" is p forced too

It makes me happier than it should that pizza parlour covers dude seems to have launched a career off the back of it:

http://www.mikemasse.com/

being in a band where I have to sing harmony on Africa gives me special appreciation for what a terrible chewy mouthful the lyrics are.

there is nothing wrong with either the lyrics or the music of this song.

Sure as KilimanJARo RISes like a LIMPness above the SARANgetNEEEEE

No it's SEEHHHHR...engeDEEEEEEEEEE

"There's nothin that a hundred men OR MORE could ever doooooo" -- the "or more" is such a "Damnit, how do I make this lyric fit the melody?" thing.

there are plenty of things wrong with the lyrics or the music of the song and the inescapablility of it is reaching "sweet caroline" depths