I don't think this song is about a girl at all. I think this song is about starting over and returning to nature and human origins... Look here... notice that he does not say "she's coming in on a 12:30 flight"... He says "she's coming in, 12:30 flight" I think "she" is the plane.
This song is about self cleansing and starting over. The rains in africa are washing away his present life. He wants to get away from the modern world and technology and politics and return to the place of human origins, Africa, which throughout history was also known as an undiscovered place. He wants to leave all the bullshit in his life and find the meaning.
This is my theory... I think it is more interesting than a love story. Also if this song is a love song then the whole Africa motif is really stupid and irrelevant... Who in their right mind would write a love song and try to incorporate a safari or a tourist trip into the lyrics...That doesn't make sense.
@Dumbdumb I like your interpretation. I've traveled in six continents in many countries, and saw it as an expansion and enhancement of my identity and life. When I moved half way thru my life to the place I wanted to be, though, it was still in the United States. Still it was a life reboot, a starting over, and had been successful (there was a girl later on, and now I'm an old retired grandpa!).
@Dumbdumb I like your interpretation. I've traveled in six continents in many countries, and saw it as an expansion and enhancement of my identity and life. When I moved half way thru my life to the place I wanted to be, though, it was still in the United States. Still it was a life reboot, a starting over, and had been successful (there was a girl later on, and now I'm an old retired grandpa!).
Anyway, what strikes me about this song is that it brings up the mystical, esoteric side of life, like a religious kind of experience to be a new person in a new land where all the rules have changed. A calling, rather than a plan. The logical side of me falls away when I listen to this song, and now I wonder if I can give a new interpretation to the very different and strange places I've been, and have yet to go.
Sometimes, as in Zen, we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves. You gave me an idea why this song absorbs my attention.
@Dumbdumb Great interpretation, I think you're dead on. Although I think the "she" could also be Africa itself (She's coming in --> coming into view, almost there). A few more things that support it:
@Dumbdumb Great interpretation, I think you're dead on. Although I think the "she" could also be Africa itself (She's coming in --> coming into view, almost there). A few more things that support it:
>
The lyrics interchange "it's waiting there for you," and "she's waiting there for you." "It's" would be a little strange if he was talking about a woman.
>
The lyrics interchange "it's waiting there for you," and "she's waiting there for you." "It's" would be a little strange if he was talking about a woman.
i>
"I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become" --> basically the theme you articulated.
i>
"I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become" --> basically the theme you articulated.
i>
"solitary company" --> he wants to be alone, but with nature. Wouldn't make sense in a relationship.
i>
Wondering about two lines:
Does "Gonna take some time to do the things we never had" mean thing things we had never done?
Also, wondering what the first two lines mean. Maybe that he hears drums --> he longs for Africa? Not sure about the second line, that the drums are just in his head? It's actually quiet/peaceful there?
@Dumbdumb Correct that it's really not about a girl, specifically. The author has said he was inspired by the experience he and his classmates had as a Christian missionaries as youth. So in a literal sense it was about Africa, the continent. In a metaphorical sense as you allude, it's about possibilities. His whole life stands before him and it's greater than he ever realized. As a young adult, he can leave more than just his parent's home, his hometown, he can leave the USA. Falling in love with Africa opened his mind and heart that there are a million...
@Dumbdumb Correct that it's really not about a girl, specifically. The author has said he was inspired by the experience he and his classmates had as a Christian missionaries as youth. So in a literal sense it was about Africa, the continent. In a metaphorical sense as you allude, it's about possibilities. His whole life stands before him and it's greater than he ever realized. As a young adult, he can leave more than just his parent's home, his hometown, he can leave the USA. Falling in love with Africa opened his mind and heart that there are a million exotic destinations and adventures to be had in life. It's a very inspiring song from that view to me.
@Dumbdumb Putting aside novelty nonsense like Viva Espania, what's wrong with including tourists and/or tourism in lyrics? The wonderful, The Year of the Cat, by Al Stewart is about a man visiting the Orient. He sees and gets caught up with a mysterious women and spends the night with her. The next day, he finds that "the bus and the tourists have gone" and (he's) "thrown away (his) choice and lost (his) ticket, so (he) has to stay on". If the words fit the story - and in this case they do perfectly - there's nothing wrong with it,...
@Dumbdumb Putting aside novelty nonsense like Viva Espania, what's wrong with including tourists and/or tourism in lyrics? The wonderful, The Year of the Cat, by Al Stewart is about a man visiting the Orient. He sees and gets caught up with a mysterious women and spends the night with her. The next day, he finds that "the bus and the tourists have gone" and (he's) "thrown away (his) choice and lost (his) ticket, so (he) has to stay on". If the words fit the story - and in this case they do perfectly - there's nothing wrong with it, no matter what the subject matter of the song is.
I don't think this song is about a girl at all. I think this song is about starting over and returning to nature and human origins... Look here... notice that he does not say "she's coming in on a 12:30 flight"... He says "she's coming in, 12:30 flight" I think "she" is the plane.
This song is about self cleansing and starting over. The rains in africa are washing away his present life. He wants to get away from the modern world and technology and politics and return to the place of human origins, Africa, which throughout history was also known as an undiscovered place. He wants to leave all the bullshit in his life and find the meaning.
This is my theory... I think it is more interesting than a love story. Also if this song is a love song then the whole Africa motif is really stupid and irrelevant... Who in their right mind would write a love song and try to incorporate a safari or a tourist trip into the lyrics...That doesn't make sense.
Great interpretation...
Great interpretation...
@Dumbdumb I like your interpretation. I've traveled in six continents in many countries, and saw it as an expansion and enhancement of my identity and life. When I moved half way thru my life to the place I wanted to be, though, it was still in the United States. Still it was a life reboot, a starting over, and had been successful (there was a girl later on, and now I'm an old retired grandpa!).
@Dumbdumb I like your interpretation. I've traveled in six continents in many countries, and saw it as an expansion and enhancement of my identity and life. When I moved half way thru my life to the place I wanted to be, though, it was still in the United States. Still it was a life reboot, a starting over, and had been successful (there was a girl later on, and now I'm an old retired grandpa!).
Anyway, what strikes me about this song is that it brings up the mystical, esoteric side of life, like a religious kind of experience to be a new person in a new land where all the rules have changed. A calling, rather than a plan. The logical side of me falls away when I listen to this song, and now I wonder if I can give a new interpretation to the very different and strange places I've been, and have yet to go.
Sometimes, as in Zen, we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves. You gave me an idea why this song absorbs my attention.
@Dumbdumb Great interpretation, I think you're dead on. Although I think the "she" could also be Africa itself (She's coming in --> coming into view, almost there). A few more things that support it:
@Dumbdumb Great interpretation, I think you're dead on. Although I think the "she" could also be Africa itself (She's coming in --> coming into view, almost there). A few more things that support it:
>
The lyrics interchange "it's waiting there for you," and "she's waiting there for you." "It's" would be a little strange if he was talking about a woman.
>
The lyrics interchange "it's waiting there for you," and "she's waiting there for you." "It's" would be a little strange if he was talking about a woman.
i>
"I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become" --> basically the theme you articulated.
i>
"I seek to cure what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become" --> basically the theme you articulated.
i>
"solitary company" --> he wants to be alone, but with nature. Wouldn't make sense in a relationship.
i>
Wondering about two lines:
Does "Gonna take some time to do the things we never had" mean thing things we had never done?
Also, wondering what the first two lines mean. Maybe that he hears drums --> he longs for Africa? Not sure about the second line, that the drums are just in his head? It's actually quiet/peaceful there?
@Dumbdumb Correct that it's really not about a girl, specifically. The author has said he was inspired by the experience he and his classmates had as a Christian missionaries as youth. So in a literal sense it was about Africa, the continent. In a metaphorical sense as you allude, it's about possibilities. His whole life stands before him and it's greater than he ever realized. As a young adult, he can leave more than just his parent's home, his hometown, he can leave the USA. Falling in love with Africa opened his mind and heart that there are a million...
@Dumbdumb Correct that it's really not about a girl, specifically. The author has said he was inspired by the experience he and his classmates had as a Christian missionaries as youth. So in a literal sense it was about Africa, the continent. In a metaphorical sense as you allude, it's about possibilities. His whole life stands before him and it's greater than he ever realized. As a young adult, he can leave more than just his parent's home, his hometown, he can leave the USA. Falling in love with Africa opened his mind and heart that there are a million exotic destinations and adventures to be had in life. It's a very inspiring song from that view to me.
@Dumbdumb This is also how I saw it, and it is better than a love song meaning. Thats one reason this song hit me so hard.
@Dumbdumb This is also how I saw it, and it is better than a love song meaning. Thats one reason this song hit me so hard.
@Dumbdumb Putting aside novelty nonsense like Viva Espania, what's wrong with including tourists and/or tourism in lyrics? The wonderful, The Year of the Cat, by Al Stewart is about a man visiting the Orient. He sees and gets caught up with a mysterious women and spends the night with her. The next day, he finds that "the bus and the tourists have gone" and (he's) "thrown away (his) choice and lost (his) ticket, so (he) has to stay on". If the words fit the story - and in this case they do perfectly - there's nothing wrong with it,...
@Dumbdumb Putting aside novelty nonsense like Viva Espania, what's wrong with including tourists and/or tourism in lyrics? The wonderful, The Year of the Cat, by Al Stewart is about a man visiting the Orient. He sees and gets caught up with a mysterious women and spends the night with her. The next day, he finds that "the bus and the tourists have gone" and (he's) "thrown away (his) choice and lost (his) ticket, so (he) has to stay on". If the words fit the story - and in this case they do perfectly - there's nothing wrong with it, no matter what the subject matter of the song is.
@Dumbdumb I think you are absolutely right mate
@Dumbdumb I think you are absolutely right mate