Monday, February 15, 2021

Lions and Leopresses and Rains, Oh My!

    "Africa"--one of Toto's most iconic songs.  It was the number one song for the week of February 5, 1983.  Weezer has a cover of it with Weird Al Yankovic. (Apparently, the cover was a fan request--not sure if Weird Al was part of that request. . .)  Straight No Chaser quotes it at the end of their arrangement of the "Twelve Days of Christmas".  So of course I misunderheard the lyrics.

    The first line of the song says "I hear the drums echoing tonight."  I understood them to say "I hear the drums echo in the night."  Not too off.  

    Then there's that line about Kilimanjaro: "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti"  I thought for sure it was "As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a leopress above the Serengeti."  Not sure how a mountain rises like a female leopard ,but hey, it's the Serengeti.  They have wild animals there--perhaps the mountain is wild like a mother cat whose cubs are threatened. Wait--do leopards have cubs or kittens--anyway, I totally missed the Greek reference.

    Speaking of wild animals, I was sure they sang, "It's going to take a lion to drag me away from you."  I was thinking the Lion King a decade before the Lion King.  I mean, a lion has got to be stronger than a hundred men or more, right?  Apparently, that's a lot. (See what I did there?)

    And what about that line about missing the rains? Or making the rains? Or mumble mumble the rains?  Oh--you BLESS the rains.  Got it.



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