Hatfield 1

Erin Hatfield

Professor Sharyn Hunter

English 1201

04 October 2020

I Hear the Drums Echoing Tonight

In 2018, it was determined by the most qualified, musically inclined people (the internet)

that Toto’s “Africa” was the greatest song of all time. And “as sure as Kilimanjaro rises like

Olympus above the Serengeti” (Toto), they were right. “Africa” has been covered at least 42

times (Lifton) since the song was released but only one cover really stands out. Toto rocked the

world in 1982 with their hit, “Africa.” Thirty-six years later, the geek band Weezer brought the

“greatest song ever” back to life and does a great job honoring this classic, in a way you’d

expect from only them.

As a globe spins and a fan rotates, the camera pans across a bookshelf as our male

lead, Toto’s David Paich Young sits at his desk in a small shack in Africa. The song starts as he

thumbs through a book, searching for the origin of a torn piece of paper he’s holding (perhaps,

“hoping to find some old forgotten words or ancient melodies.” [Toto]) The torn corner shows

only a partial shield with a distinctive design. Behind him sits a beautiful librarian, we see her

cast curious glances at our singer throughout the video. In between shots of the two, the rest of

Toto appears playing instruments standing on top of a stack of books - the top book aptly

named, “Africa.” As the lyrics, “frightened of this thing that I've become” (Toto) play, a

mysterious figure holding a shield (with the same design as the one on our paper our male lead

is holding) appears in the doorway and we see those blessed rains of Africa coming down. Our

male lead is now walking between two shelves filled with old books while “hurry boy, she's

waiting there for you” (Toto) is sung. He pulls out several books until finally he finds the one

titled, “Africa.” The next lyric, “it's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you” (Toto) is when
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everything changes. A spear is thrown by the stranger in the doorway, books crash to the

ground, an oil lamp is knocked over. A fire is started by the fallen lamp. And our dear librarian’s

glasses are now on the floor - implying she was indeed dragged away from our lead male. We

flash back to our band playing atop the books where a wicked keyboard solo is taking place.

Our male lead stands in awe as everything happens around him. The camera flashes to the

book with the torn corner flipping open on the ground. it starts to burn from the oil lamp as all of

his research was done in vain. We see the globe, specifically zoomed in on Africa, followed by

flashes of rain, African ferns, a lion’s head on the wall and our mysterious stranger's hand

holding a shield. The video ends with our male lead sitting on top of the stack of books (that the

band was on earlier) alone and reflecting on everything he has lost, while the final scene shows

the book burning.

Toto’s “Africa” video has a lot going on. It flashes back between our two characters and

the band, along with several props you imagine you’d see in Africa. Including the lion’s head,

the tribal shield and spear, ferns, beaded curtain (instead of a door), rain, oil lamp, even the

style of clothes our lead male is wearing. Lyrics in the video references what you may hear in

Africa - distant drums, wild dogs and again, rain. These elements are intended to make the

viewer feel as if they were in Africa, which relates to the viewer’s logos appeal. This sense of

being in Africa may give off a sense of mystery and at times, danger. This would appeal to the

viewer’s emotional side - the video starts off mysterious, you don’t know what exactly is going

on or what the relationship is between the two leads. The middle of the video gives a sense of

danger when the spear is thrown and the woman disappears. By the end of the video, the

viewer may feel saddened by seeing the lead male all alone and everything on fire. The

audience of this video really has no specifications for age, gender, education, culture, race or

beliefs. This video has a wide variety of an audience, especially since it’s resurgence in

popularity among millennials. When this first came out, the audience was probably fans of Toto -
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though they were fun to “hate” (think Nickelback of their time), fans of pop/rock music and young

adults. Now it’s popular among classic rock fans, which covers many age groups, and millenials.

Fast forward thirty-six years and the best cover of Africa is released. For those unfamiliar

with Weezer, they are a quirky “geek” band formed in the early 1990’s. Their music is a

particular mix of punk/alternative/pop rock with an old school feel, led by Rivers Cuomo who

typically dresses in “nerdy” clothing with black, thick rimmed glasses. In 2018, Weezer released

an album full of covers - the Teal Album. The hit song from this album was “Africa.” This may be

from the fact that the internet begged and begged Weezer to cover the song. Weezer delivered,

eventually. They first teased the internet with their cover of another Toto song, “Rosanna”

before releasing “Africa.”

Weezer must “know to do what’s right” (Toto) because when their “Africa” video starts,

everything is in black and white. As the camera moves towards the band (who are upside

down), it passes through lights, a crew member and ferns reminiscent of the ferns seen in

Toto’s video. After the fern, you see the video takes place on the set of a video shoot. A crew

member walks in front of the band, carrying a ladder, and as he passes the band they are

rotated upright. Instruments are playing and as soon as the lyrics start, the band switches to

color. We see they are playing in front of a blue background, just the four members, their

instruments and amps. But wait! That’s not Rivers Cuomo singing, it’s ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic

impersonating Rivers. The camera switches between each band member during the duration of

the video, never showing much else. In the background sometimes you’ll see a random crew

member walking around or studio lights. In this version, instead of a killer keyboard solo, we get

a wicked accordion solo thanks to ‘Weird Al’ - along with some stellar dance moves. Towards

the end of the song the keyboardist moves beside his keyboards and starts running his fingers

across every key, the drummer stands up and starts “drumming” around his drums and the

guitarist just starts jamming. ‘Weird Al’ finishes the song strong, while in the background the

keyboardist and guitarist are on their knees playing their hearts out as the video fades to black.
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Where Toto’s video had a lot going on, Weezer’s was incredibly minimal. The video

starts in black and white, maybe an ode to the past, and turns to color, maybe representing

newness, or a fresh take. The lyrics and melody are exactly the same as the original. I think for

Weezer to do this video this bare is really a great tribute to the song - they don’t need anything

else, except for the song. The actions in this video are much more relaxed and fun and I think

that’s for a few reasons. The first reason being that it’s Weezer and ‘Weird Al’ and that is really

both their style. The second reason is because of the sensationalism this song has now,

especially online. There are so many memes, references, and jokes about this song that the

band is basically parodying it and themselves. I think what really proves this point is how the

band members are acting towards the end of the video with their “drumming” and keyboarding

and facial expressions. This video really applies to the pathos appeal. There is a lot of nostalgia

for this song and also a revival going on so it’s also fun. The audience for this video is really

anyone, regardless of age/race/gender/background - just like the original video. It’s for any ages

and gender, fans of all genres of music to enjoy.

What makes Weezer’s cover so great, is that it is so minimal. I think it really shows that

their video is a tribute to the original. Toto’s video, even with everything going on, can’t be

redone and Weezer knows that. “Africa” is a song that is now legendary and the butt of many

jokes, but it really is a masterpiece deserving to be named “the greatest song ever.”
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Works Cited

Lifton, D. (2018, December 19). Bless the Rain With 42 Very Different Covers of Toto's

'Africa'. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from https://ultimateclassicrock.com/toto-africa-

covers/

Paich, D., & Porcaro, J. (n.d.). Toto – Africa. Retrieved September 25, 2020, from

https://genius.com/Toto-africa-lyrics

Toto. “Africa.” YouTube, Toto, 22 May 2013, https://youtu.be/FTQbiNvZqaY.

Weezer. “Africa.” YouTube, Weezer, 24 September 2018, https://youtu.be/mk5Dwg5zm2U.