When Weezer – best known for their straight-ahead rock and power-pop sound – cut Toto’s “Africa” in 2018, a lot of people took it as a joke, until they really listened to how well the band performed the track.
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Indeed, Toto was, and still is, known for its members who are some of Hollywood’s top A-list players and writers, and many people might not have viewed Weezer as a band with those kinds of chops. But they not only pulled it off, they kept it pretty lighthearted as well, shooting a widely-watched YouTube video for the song that featured “Weird” Al Yankovic in the lead vocal and guitar role.
The song put Weezer on the singles charts for the first time in nearly a decade. “Africa” is credited to Toto keyboardist/vocalist David Paich and the late drummer Jeff Porcaro, as Porcaro’s intricate drum and percussion track, which captured the vibe of what Paich had begun to create on keyboards, became integral to Toto’s original recording of song.
“That was me using a lot of writer’s license,” Paich told the Songfacts website about the composition of the song. “I remember seeing lots of films of starving and famine when I was a kid in pictures of Africa. Then I’d seen some movies and read a lot of the National Geographics, and always wanted to go to Africa, so I romanticized this story about a social worker that goes over there and falls in love with working with the country and doing good. But he also falls in love and has to make a choice between helping people for the rest of his life or having a family and doing that kind of thing.”
“There’s a little metaphor involved here,” Paich continued, “because I was at the age where I was so immersed in my work, 24/7, that at times I felt like I was becoming just a victim of my work. There was a little bit of autobiographical information in there: being consumed by my work, not having time to go out and pursue getting married and raising a family and doing all the things that other people do that were my age at the time. So, it could be semi-autobiographical at that point.”
Guitar icon and Toto founder Steve Lukather was asked about Weezer’s cover in an interview with Casey Ball of the famed Ernie Ball guitar string company. “No one is laughing harder than ME!” Lukather said. “And nobody appreciates it more than all of us at Toto … This whole ‘Africa’ meme thing has been astounding. The streaming numbers and radio play are insane. Maybe some kids will come check out the old guys [playing] the original music. Us!”
Weezer’s covering this song, as well as other songs on their “teal album” like “Billie Jean” and “Paranoid,” was a win-win for all the artists and writers involved. “Weezer is killing it for us,” Lukather said, “and we are blown away at the success! We owe them the play back and we will be serious about it! No jokes. Most of their fans have been VERY kind to us. Honestly, I was afraid to look at social media for a while there. I am sure neither of our bands expected THIS to happen!”
Look for a new Weezer album of presumably all original material in May.
