What do the lyrics to Toto's Africa mean as I'm A Celebrity star Seann Walsh gets them wrong
It has been streamed over 2 billion times!Toto’s song Africa is one of the most famous songs in the world, and yet, I’m A Celebrity South Africa star Seann Walsh has no clue what the lyrics are.
In tonight’s episode (April 14) of the ITV show, the comedian, alongside Mo Farrah, Sinitta and Beverley Callard, have to answer questions while hanging from ropes by the edge of a mountain.
If they guess the question wrong, they have to cut one of their own. If they get it correct, they have the opportunity to pick whose rope they want to cut next.
I’m A Celebrity star Seann Walsh faced with question about Toto’s Africa
With two ropes left, they were asked to answer by hosts Ant and Dec: “Finish the lyrics to the 1982 song by Toto. ‘I bless the rain down in…'”
Seann buzzed in and immediately said: “Spain!”
While laughing and covering their faces with their cards, Seann added: “I don’t know, it rhymes!”
Informing him that the answer was Africa, Ant McPartlin began to sing the song. Seann was then forced to cut his rope, leaving him with one left.
To date, Africa has racked up more than 2.5 billion streams on Spotify. In recent years, it has remained a fixture in pop culture, featuring in shows such as Stranger Things and Family Guy.
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But what do the lyrics actually mean?
What do the lyrics to Toto’s Africa mean?
Released in 1982, Toto’s Africa is a global hit. The song peaked at No. 3 in the UK. Meanwhile, on the US Billboard 200, it reached the top spot.
Founding member David Paich came up with the initial idea and lyrics for the song. The famous chorus goes: “It’s gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / There’s nothin’ that a hundred men or more could ever do / I bless the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.”
“I sang the chorus out as you hear it. It was like God channeling it. I thought, ‘I’m talented, but I’m not that talented. Something just happened here!'” he previously explained.
For six months, David perfected the lyrics before presenting the song to the band. The rest, as they say, was history.
In 2015, David opened up about the lyrics, explaining that it is about a man’s love for the continent of Africa.
“I would see UNICEF commercials on TV, way back in the day, and I was a big reader of National Geographic. I’ve just always kind of been fascinated with Africa. I just kind of romanticised this story about a social worker that was over there, that falls in love and can’t — is having kind of a paradox, trying to tear himself away from Africa to actually have a life,” he told Grantland.
