Toto - Africa

[jobotic]

It's nice seeing gilbertharding and studpuppet chatting to each other, what with their avatars and all.

[studpuppet]

Maybe you should fix yours with this.

[manticore]

I must be the wrong age. To me it was 80s MOR/old people's music when it came out, and not in a good way.

Yes, absolutely it was and is. Those bloody portentous slabs of keyboard that perfused a million dullard American AOR records in the eighties, cod grandeur, featureless, smooth, glossy, tranquilising slop. Maybe I'm the wrong age too.

[gilbertharding]

There turns out to be loads of this stuff which if I were older than I am (or possibly younger, without the baggage of having hated it in the 80s), I might recognise as being a direct line from stuff it is ok to like - like The Eagles or something.

As I say, stranger things have happened - I can now appreciate mid-period Fleetwood Mac, for example.

[Twit 2]

I've always had a problem with the simile. You can't compare a mountain to a mountain, for effect. It's like saying, 'the lion ran as fast as a leopard.'

[Shit Good Nose]

I might recognise as being a direct line from stuff it is ok to like - like The Eagles or something.

I don't care what anyone says, Hotel California (the song) is a fucking masterpiece.  Especially those mid-to-late 70s live versions.

[Golden E. Pump]

Fucking belter.

[bgmnts]

Is it The Eagles, the Eagles or Eagles?

[itsfredtitmus]

Is it The Eagles, the Eagles or Eagles?

The Shegles

[studpuppet]

Is it The Eagles, the Eagles or Eagles?

It's The Eeee-gles.

[saltysnacks]

It was used perfectly in Stranger Things. Didn't like the song until then.

[Crabwalk]

If you've ever tried to do it at karaoke/on Singstar however, it becomes apparent how tepid and one-note most of the chorus is.

Pro tip: sing it as a duet with a female singing the lead vocal melody and a male doing the harmony line. Sounds brilliant.

[pancreas]

There is a great a cappella arrangement by one of the King's Singers. Can't find their version of it, but *many* groups have done it. There's a rather over-produced version of it on Spotify.

[Sebastian Cobb]

One of the greatest singles ever made, that is.

And she co-wrote Our Lips Are Sealed. These two things, as far as I'm concerned, qualify her for sainthood.

And Joan of Arc in Bill and Ted,

[biggytitbo]

And Joan of Arc in Bill and Ted,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1Ay-DU86nQ

[Dr Rock]

As a geography student I could never let it lie that Kilimanjaro is actually about 200 miles away from the Serengeti.

This is the most commonly cited issue with the lyrics but loads of them are iffy

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
[You said the wings were moonlit; they are not going to be reflecting any stars anyway]
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"
[how do you turn as if to say that? Also stopping random old (African?) men for forgotten words or ancient melodies is a bit dubious/unlikely to be effective]
It's gonna take a lot to take me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
[Gibberish]
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
[what? Past tense of 'do' is 'did']
The wild dogs cry out in the night
As they grow restless, longing for some solitary company
[solitary company??]
I know that I must do what's right
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti
[see quoted post]
I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become
[someone unable to write English anymore]
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do
[You mean 'that's' or 'it's' surely? And then 'something' not 'nothing.']
I bless the rains down in Africa
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
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
[See me]
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
(I bless the rain)
I bless the rains down in Africa
(I bless the rain)
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
(Ah, gonna take the time)
Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
[ffs]

[Dr Syntax Head]

Gonna take some time to do the things we never had
[ffs]

That doesn't even begin to make sense

[Sebastian Cobb]

Barely any MOR/AOR shite makes sense if you pay attention to it.

It's mostly about the structure, like distilling soul tracks yet somehow removing any soul from it in the process.

[itsfredtitmus]

where does steely dan, scritti and prefab sprout come into this?

[Sebastian Cobb]

Never mind that, what about reo speedwagon?

[itsfredtitmus]

couldn't tuna a fish

[Sebastian Cobb]

Kid Charlemagne is decent fred.

[momatt]

It's always been a bit of a Balearic Beat, but the first revival I heard was this fantastic Late Night Tuff Guy edit from 2012
https://soundcloud.com/late-nite-tuff-guy/bless-the-rains-lntg-epic

1000 thank yous for this!
Been playing loads of his stuff in the garden whilst barbecuing last weekend.

Love this remix and the acid edit of Talking Heads is incredible!
https://soundcloud.com/late-nite-tuff-guy/burning-down-the-acid-house

[Cuellar]

This added to its latter day popularity as well

...Why?

I've always had a problem with the simile. You can't compare a mountain to a mountain, for effect. It's like saying, 'the lion ran as fast as a leopard.'

Or, 'The lion ran as fast as a lion'.

[Better Midlands]

1000 thank yous for this!
Been playing loads of his stuff in the garden whilst barbecuing last weekend.

Love this remix and the acid edit of Talking Heads is incredible!
https://soundcloud.com/late-nite-tuff-guy/burning-down-the-acid-house

Yeah, he had a real golden run - loads of great edits

[sevendaughters]

Weezer were social media strongarmed into covering Africa, normalcore bollocks. I like the original song but I think some people are finding it funny like a gorilla drumming Phil Collins, ie. it isn't funny but has the cadence of humour.

[rue the polywhirl]

If you're really sick of Africa just hack into Toto's twitter account and make some racist tweets. That way executives will cancel the song out of existence.

[Bhazor]

https://twitter.com/BarbroFarbror/status/990552500024602624

[Better Midlands]

Arguably the first track on the LP that launched vapourwave (If you don't count Floral Shoppe)

Chuck Person's Eccojams Vol. 1 - A1

https://youtu.be/0T17gsA67og

[Twit 2]

...Why?

Or, 'The lion ran as fast as a lion'.

Not quite, it's not a mountain compared to the exact same mountain, it's to a similar large mountain, hence similar large cat.