It is apropos—nay, necessary—that the homestretch of 2018 gave us one last twist on Toto’s “Africa.” Despite being over 36 years old, the uplifting little ditty was surely the song of the past year (narrowly edging out the likes of A Star Is Born‘s “Shallow,” Ariana Grande’s “thank u, next,” and Peter Parker OG’s monumentally hilarious “Spidey Bells”—we appreciate your musical acumen, Chris Pine) thanks to covers by Weezer, “Weird Al” Yankovic, Weezer and “Weird Al” Yankovic, Postmodern Jukebox, and Pitbull on the Aquaman soundtrack. And now, we’ve got one more for ya: Toto’s “Africa” as sung by (read: pieced together from snippets of dialogue from) more than 50 movies and TV shows.
With contributions from Disney princesses, Batman villains, Marvel heroes, Star Wars rebels, Tarantino crooks, Zamundan princes, 1970s-era newscasters, 1780s-era composers, time traveling teens, robots, pandas, tigers, ogres, Na’vi, two versions of Will Smith, and New York City police offers whose natural orientation within or outside of the realm of “Christmas movie” is a constant cause for debate, the video proves beyond any shadow of the doubt that Toto’s “Africa” is a song for all of us.
But of course, now that 2018 is over and done with (after what felt like way more than a single year—2019, take notes: just the normal 365 days this time around, okay? Not infinitum) and there’s no telling which classic pop song will seize the throne from “Africa” over the course of the months to come. Could any other karaoke-friendly jam earn quite the stature and cultural ubiquity that Toto’s 1982 hit did last year, with long-begged-for covers from the likes of Weezer and Weird Al? Or are we doomed to listen to only… original music? Perish the thought, but forever bless the rains.
Images: MGM, Disney
