TOTO "africa" classic or dud

never underestimate people's love for "randomness" and absurdity. for me there's a sort of tension between the lyrics and the music that elevates the song, even beyond the sort of nameless melancholy evoked by both the music and the lyrics. the impressive feat of "africa" is that it manages to get lyrics so poor to sound so good. indeed the lyrics almost function like dissonance does, something to be resolved by the music. that tension is what makes it relistenable without launching a massive "enough of this shit already" backlash.

― bob lefse (rushomancy), Wednesday, September 20, 2017 7:36 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah also, after the goofiest of all the song's goofiest lines "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti" it hits you with this existential dread:

"I seek to cure what's deep inside/frightened of this thing that I've become"

― Universal LULU Nation (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Wednesday, 20 September 2017 15:18 (yesterday) Permalink

Good posts! I had a similar thought about Ventura Highway recently, another song my dad band is covering. It's the slight amateurish awkwardness of the lyrics that make them work -- the sense of a college freshman trying really hard in a poetry workshop instead of a pro songwriter that gives them some life, lead to unusual phrasings that give the song some of its rhythmic interest etc.

I know-oo-wo-oo-wo-oo-wo

it'd just be cool if virtually every single "rediscovered" meme song, with the possible exception of "total eclipse of the heart," were not by the absolute dude-est of dudes. meet the new suffocating canon, same as the old suffocating canon

[instrumental break]

— africa by toto bot (@africabytotobot) September 21, 2017

xp I'm willing to put in the work to make the Go-Go's "Head Over Heels" happen

Well there's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun", which has 441 Million views on YouTube, but I don't think that one is meme related. It's probably just legitimately popular and timeless.

so Girls Just Want to Have Fun = legitimately popular and timeless

and Africa = not legitimately popular and timeless

got it

the difference seems pretty obvious to me. there wouldn't, for instance, be a cyndi lauper twitter bot

to be clear, i adore cyndi lauper. but what does a twitter bot have to do with this?

my only real point is a song becomes a meme because it is popular, and it is popular because it has good qualities that make it so.

i think it's bullshit to discredit Toto for having a song that's more popular than ever 35 years after they wrote and released it, no matter the reasons. they put together words and melodies and instrumental parts and rhythms that have not only endured, they've grown in popularity and stature. let them have a little credit, rather than saying "this song is only popular because it was in a video game." well guess what - someone chose that song for that video game because they like it and they knew it would resonate with people! barflies sing "Closing Time" because it's catchy and gives them a warm feeling! Red Sox fans sing "Sweet Caroline" because it's got an unbeatable hook!

every artist would kill to have one of these songs that's mega-popular and enduring ... but not reeeeally, says ILM.

ok now i am defending Toto onfuckingline before noon, what happened, where did it all go wrong

^frightened of this thing he has become

legit lol

people make twitter bots of memes, that's the whole point of them. it's not discrediting a song to point out a major source of its popularity

Yeah, I'm confused that so many people on here are simply against the idea that "Africa" has had a meme-ified boost lately.

what was the meme?

the Toto by Africa twitter bot that is tweeting out the song's lyrics is a major source of its popularity?

or the meme is?

if the former ... no way.

if the latter ... see UMS' question.

and yes, slow clap for Jon not Jon

The song "Africa" by Toto, as discussed in this thread.

http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/africa-by-toto?full=1

"I know there are so many 'All Star except every word is replaced with the sound of a pitch shifted fart' YouTube videos, but please don't discredit this excellent song"

I'm not buying that the spread of Africa's popularity is due to those youtubes from 2010. I did an Orlando Fringe production which had Toto and specifically "Africa" as a running joke throughout. several friends' bands would cover it at bars/restaurants etc. memes seemed more like a byproduct of the popularity than anything causal

youtubes or any memes, I should say

that Fringe production was from 2008

like sure it boosted it like any meme would but it isn't like "Africa" was like some tucked away 80s obscurity that just resurfaced over night, it p much never went away to begin with

yes

it has been a lol'd-at-yet-admired song as long as i can remember

whereas like, "Never Gonna Give You Up", sure, a lot of people remembered it, but the infamous Rickroll meme was largely responsible for its re-emergence and continued popularity. that one owed a lot more to the meme.

No, I'm not buying that "Africa" has always been this popular. I mean, I was there ... when the song was a hit. But I was also there when the song was good/funny only for people my age, a sort of ironic Gen X joke. I have no idea why the song is so popular/hilarious among people half my age, but there's no way it's just because it's "good." That's why I gravitated toward the reassuring chord progression, which makes some degree of sense to me.

the song is all of the above -- chart hit, ironic GenX joke, popular YouTube cover, lol'd-at-yet-admired, a cappella staple, legitimately popular and timeless, sync fave, target of TV jokemen, popular/hilarious among people half our age, possible meme, etc., etc. -- because it's a catchy, well-crafted song (with some bad lyrics but who cares about lyrics)

agree or disagree? everyone vote.

c'mon man, the song isn't exactly "Don't Stop Believin'", but it's always been instantly recognizable and popular. Betty White sang "Africa" on Community in 2010 ffs.

I went on my FB and found 11 friends posting about the song in 2009-2010, only two of which were in response to some obscure a capella group doing it (couldn't find earlier as most of them were still on MySpace at the time lol)

hell one of my friends recorded a 3 part a capella version of it in 09 apparently (yay for FB search)

i guess a song being a "meme" is a little weird to me, because i think you could go back pretty far, like for example the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" has always operated at that nexus of irony and genuine love. i just feel like the same thing was already happening with a lot of these songs, it just moved on the internet.

feels different than Rick Rolling which was really specifically an Internet stunt, or Rebecca Black Friday or Gangham Style, those type of viral meme songs

like Toto has had memes that might have boosted its popularity, but not an outright kingmaker like Rick Astley did.

xpost ums otm

also sorry i know i'm getting really into "who knows what a ~~~~meme~~~~ even is maaaaaan" territory here *smokes doobie*

my high school choir even had SATB sheet music for Africa lol (never got to do it tho)

a few things:

1. "Never Gonna Give You Up" is definitely a bigger meme song than "Africa", but then again, there aren't many songs in general that can match the meme power of the Rickroll.
2. "Staying Alive" is a great example of a meme song avant la lettre.
3. I don't recall really encountering "Africa" much during the 1990s, certainly not as a thing in pop culture. I kinda get the impression that people on here saying it's been a constant really mean it has been for the past 10 years or so. There was definitely a period where this track sank a bit into obscurity.

Maybe I'm wrong though, don't know when you were in HS Neanderthal.

'Africa' used to get a fair amount of play on VH-1 UK in the '90s. I remember being in a taxi in the late '90s and the taxi driver fucking playing the thing on a loop. This song has never really gone away. It doesn't feel like a meme to me either.

xp I'm willing to put in the work to make the Go-Go's "Head Over Heels" happen

― Monster fatberg (Phil D.), Thursday, September 21, 2017

let's do this!

As long as there isn't a fucking 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' resurgence...

the endtimes are near, i wouldn't rule it out

i think there is a sense to "Africa" being sort of a punchline, and I would hate for that to happen to "Head Over Heels" -- it deserves better than to be intentionally baconed

Wilson Phillips' "Release Me."

"Head Over Heels" is awesome.

There was definitely a period where this track sank a bit into obscurity.

Not just this track, but much of the louchey-douchey radio rock music from this period. It would probably have seemed a bit ridic / faintly embarrassing to admit you liked it. To a lot of people in my social circle anyways. Not that I tested this rigorously, but I suspect it would have seemed a little weird to be unironically cranking this up at a keg party in 1993.

It was normal to like music that was older than this, or newer than this. Or obscurer than this, or more popular than this. But something like Styx or Toto fell into a kind of trough, both in terms of age (neither fresh nor classic) and in terms of exposure level (neither unknown nor popular). My high school had deadheads and metalheads, goths and punks, but nobody who walked around wearing an REO Speedwagon concert tee.

REO speedwagon was for olds

Wilson Phillips was featured at the end of Bridesmaids but I don't know if that connotes meme status.

i doubt i have heard this song played in a non-jokey way (outside of a cvs) in 30 years. i mean i've totally enjoyed this thread's discussion of the chord changes, etc, but it's a corny-ass song with in-your-face terrible lyrics, and not even in a fist-pumpy way like 'don't stop believin'

hold the line is a jam, though

tbh i'm having a hard time thinking of songs by female artists that are this aggressively corny about something so random. certainly not the go-go's. i guess we'll always have rebecca black

I think that the meme-ification process - especially of Glee and the Pitch Perfect movies (plus the accompanying popularity renaissance of a capella) - may have had a liberating effect on what people feel they can admit they always liked.

Personally I've always liked "Africa" but I probably would have been quieter about it in high school and college. Maybe that just means I suck at being a human, or am insufficiently secure in my taste/judgment, or care too much about seeming "cool." But teens and young adults generally develop a pretty good sense at what you'll get laughed at for championing.

tbh i'm having a hard time thinking of songs by female artists that are this aggressively corny

Heart, "These Dreams." It's "Total Eclipse of the Heart"-level corn.

"Black Velvet" is a borderline case. I have days when I think it's the awesomest thing that ever awesomed; at other times I think it's pretty cornish.

omg "black velvet" is horrible

I associate 'Africa' with this compilation, which my parents had on cassette and that I used to listen to a lot as a kid.

http://images.eil.com/large_image/VARIOUS-60S_%26_70S_OPEN%2BTOP%2BCARS%2BAND%2BGIRLS%2BIN%2BT%2BSHIRTS-449225.jpg

https://www.discogs.com/Various-Open-Top-Cars-And-Girls-In-TShirts/release/8718875

Looking at the tracklisting again I guess that some of those tracks would have been considered cool/'credible' at the time and some wouldn't, but I think these distinctions matter less to people the further away you get from the era they were released?

'these dreams' is a good call

I agree that Head Over Heals is not corny enough for this kind of appreciation, but maybe Heaven Is A Place On Earth/I Get Weak/Circle In The Sand? they are all great but also corny imo