TOTO "africa" classic or dud

the chorus is catchy but kinda generic

UTTERLY preposterous

It's been nearly three years since I last saw the video (upthread!) and I think I finally understand it ... Mr. Toto is trying to hunt down the warrior guy, but before he can positively identify him through piecing together the picture in the book, the warrior hunts *him* down (he carries exactly the same shield as the one in the book) and the evidence is burned. An African librarian observes everything and her glasses get rained on, which is supposed to be ironic or whatever.

STILL one of the best songs ever.

...nd her glasses get rained on...
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2292/2081138864_5675a12dfb.jpg?v=0

That's right.

i also thought he sang "i guess the rain's down in africa." like out of resignation. well, i guess the rain's down in africa. so it goes.

Not to be a wet blanket or anything, but the lyrics to this song are not exactly hard to discern. And I, too, was a kid when it came out.

I stress the blames on the swastika?

This song can kiss my goddamn arse.

"Africa" is great, and I also thought "men on Mars" for a while. That's all.

HURRY BOY SHE'S WAITING THERE FOR YOU!

I wish TEH AMAZE RANDY would post the lyrics of Africa.

I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
Shes coming in 12:30 flight
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some long forgotten words or ancient melodies
He turned to me as if to say, hurry boy, its waiting there for you

Chorus:
Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
Theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

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

Chorus

(instrumental break)

Hurry boy, shes waiting there for you

Its gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
Theres nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in africa
I bless the rains down in Africa, I bless the rains down in africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had

>'Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus over the Serengeti'

Horrible lyric, and they DON'T manage to make that clunky line scan at all!

Absolutely true. Not only is the rhythm bad, but it's such a poor analogy. Comparing a mountain to another mountain! Still an amazing song though.

Best Singstar song ever.

I hear the drums echoing tonight

You are teh false amaze randy.

"Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti" = most unnecessary syllables crammed into one line evah

I always thought it was "rises like a leapress," as in female leopard (`cos, y'know, it being Africa and all).

Me too, Alex. But I also thought Paul Simon was saying he had a "night's agenda" in Kodachrome, instead of a Nikon camera - only heard it correctly a month or so ago.

The problem with that line is actually two *missing* syllables. "Serengeti" seems shoehorned in with overlong "Ser" and "get".

Classic for its lyrics. Dud for its music.

rong

The problem with that line is actually two *missing* syllables.

ahh man you try singing it

"Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti" = most unnecessary syllables crammed into one line evah

― who makes the nachos? (braveclub), Thursday, August 13, 2009 3:45 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark

This makes it one of the best lines in any song ever. fact.

it always sounded awkward to me tbh

totally but awkwardly awesome

Yes Classic, along with the video.

great line for how little sense it makes; why is Kilimanjaro, which actually (I assume) rises above the Serengeti, being compared to Olympus, which does not?

this is pretty sweet, at least the Rain-emulation bits

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjbpwlqp5Qw

wait hold on a sec... it's "I *BLESS* the rains..."?????????????

I heard it as "i FELT the rains" for oh, the past 27 years...

dude playing bass in video is pretty roflmao esp at 2:27

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPT_3PEjnsE

wait hold on a sec... it's "I *BLESS* the rains..."?????????????

I took me something like 20 years to find out the lyric isn't "I guess the rain's down in Africa".

The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless longing for some solitary company

I think this lyric is pretty weird too... How can company be "solitary"?

I don't like the forced spiritual uplift here.

i thought it was "i left the rains down in africa"

um, ok, call it 'rain down in Antartica' or 'Sigma 5' or whatever, christ

Cool cumbia remix http://generationbass.com/2009/05/14/toto-vs-sonido-del-principe/

How can company be "solitary"?

Baahahahahahahahaha. Excellent point.

solitary company = wanting another doggie to mate with?

Yeah, but solitary means you're alone. If you got company, neither of you is solitary.

Toto sucked but Africa is cool. it just needs to be remade by Devin Townsend

why is Kilimanjaro, which actually (I assume) rises above the Serengeti, being compared to Olympus, which does not?

Because it's a figurative, rather than a literal comparison: Kilimanjaro has such majesty that the author feels that it too could be a home to the gods. Still, it's a poorly constructed couplet. Because the Kilimajaro/Olympus analogy is nestled inside an emphatic statement of fact (Kilimanjaro overlooks the Serengeti), the casual listener can assume that the author's actual intent is to claim irrefutable similarities between Kilimanjaro and Olympus.

yeah, 'rises' is the wrong word to hang the comparison on really

also, this record is vile.

it's weird that no one has mentioned the harmonies on the word "africa" in the chorus, which as far as i can tell is the stroke of genius that lifts this song clear of all the other power ballad rabble it was contending with at the time, and the one thing that is really truly great about it.

man the drumming guy from stormy's choir video is one funky wite boy.

Classic, always. One of my v v favorite escapist singles from middle school.

"Solitary company" = a paradoxical desire. Wanting to be alone and in company at the same time. C'mon ppl you've felt this.

Tracer is OTM. I saw this done by some 20-man a cappela choir and it was fucking brilliant. This song is made for that shit.

Yeah it's cool how the backing harmony keeps insisting on that same half-tone interval while the lead does other things.

The lyrics are the worst kind of poesy. Too many syllables. They "sing' horribly. Perhaps the worst/best lines (it's hard to choose) are--

"I know I must do what's right / As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti"

That said, the hooks are kind of undeniable.

Classic. I really like the synth hooks.

there is some startrekman shit all over the wiki article if you so desire.