SONG OF THE WEEK: Africa by Toto
What’s up guys? Shiningbind here with another episode of the week on Shiningbind Band Talk. Also, if you haven't yet, I do recommend also checking out Time Ends Radio as I post the latest scoop there. Moreover, be sure to give us a follow on Facebook and Instagram @shiningbindbandtalk and @timeendsradio. Anyways, so this week we go quite back a little bit as we are going to talk about quite an interesting song by the band Toto, yes, we’re talking about the song, Africa. Now before we go on into the song, and how I feel about it, let’s dive into who Toto is.
Anyways, Toto is an American rock band that formed in Los Angeles back in 1977. They are mainly known for combining musical elements such as jazz, blues, rock, pop, funk, etc. If we all know our history, a lot of those elements are roots that formed rock and roll in the first place. Without those root elements, there would be no rock and roll. Now, let’s dive into the song that is a huge hit of theirs, Africa.
So giving a little bit of history about Africa, it was recorded back in 1981,and it was off of their fourth Studio Album Toto IV. It had reached number one the United States Billboard 100 chart and unfortunately, it was their only number one hit. When it came to the composing of the song, it did take quite some time. It has quite a unique sound of the bass drum, snare drum, and the hi-hat. It really makes you feel like you are in the scenery, especially when it comes to describing the drums of Africa, African drums have that very unique sound that can be very hard to pull off, especially when it comes to the western culture a lot of times. However, Toto, managed to pull it off, especially with that certain beat they gave with the bass drum. Also, as they layered it, one can really feel like they are actually there, at least in my opinion. The lyrics have a deep meaning behind it and are quite interesting as it describes the love for Africa, but it is not a sappy love story, it is about loving Africa in general, especially when they were written based off of a documentary. Basically, the lyrics are like a metaphor behind a person’s love for Africa and embracing it.
Overall, I give this song an 8 out of 10 because despite it not being as mainstream as all the rock bands that we know of today, Toto is known for bringing out the uniqueness of their sound, especially when experimenting elements. Africa is one of their success stories, especially when they manage to pull off that African like sound to make one feel like they are there. Moreover, the lyrics are very powerful and have a deep meaning where it makes a person love and embrace Africa even more, especially today. I do highly recommend it to friends and family.
