August 26th, 2010
Africa by Toto – lyrics what lyrics?
Africa by sleek 80s band Toto has to be one of my all-time favourite retro tunes. It’s a truly epic track, and the chorus is particularly incredible; it’s the perfect way to get a whole room singing along (usually very badly – it’s not the nicest octave for karaoke…).
But has anyone ever really thought about the lyrics? They’re seriously terrible. I mean, ‘Sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti’, are you kidding me? That doesn’t even fit into the music.
All I can assume is that ‘bugger it just scribble something down’ Toto were so busy congratulating themselves on their incredible melody-writing skills that they simply couldn’t be arsed with the rest. “But Toto, what about the lyrics?” “Lyrics, schmyrics – have you heard that bloody chorus?! We’re gonna be rich!”
TOTO – Africa
I hear the drums echoing tonight
But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation
She’s 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, it’s waiting there for you
Chorus:
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s 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 what’s right
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
Chorus
(Instrumental break)
Hurry boy, she’s waiting there for you
It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There’s 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
