Weezer have been in a Toto mood lately. Following last week's cover of the GRAMMY-winning "Rosanna," Rivers Cuomo & Co. have swung for the fences in tackling another Toto tune, "Africa," not only a No. 1 hit but a song science has deemed the best song ever. So, what gives?
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It turns out the group's take on blessing the rains down in "Africa" comes with a unique social twist. The rendition has materialized after a Cleveland-based teenage fan named Mary lobbied for months via Twitter to get the group to cover the popular 1982 hit.
Starting back in December 2017, Mary tweeted Rivers Cuomo that "it's about time you bless the rains down in Africa." Last week, it seemed Weezer may have been listening when they released their cover of "Rosanna." However, Mary confirmed via Twitter today — from her aptly titled handle @weezerafrica — that the band released their version of "Africa."
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Looks like <a href="https://twitter.com/Weezer?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Weezer</a> finally blessed the rains...<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WeezerCoverAfrica?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WeezerCoverAfrica</a> <a href="https://t.co/r1xT30iVoz">pic.twitter.com/r1xT30iVoz</a></p>— weezer cover africa by toto (@weezerafrica) <a href="https://twitter.com/weezerafrica/status/1001433800210083840?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 29, 2018</a></blockquote>
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Why "Africa"? In an interview with Noisey, Mary explained that it was one of those happy accidents.
"It was just a goofy joke," she said. "It was from Weezer talking about [how] they were inspired for their new album Daydream, what inspired them. So I jokingly said, 'Oh I bet they were inspired by 'Africa' by Toto for their new album.'"
As for their version, Weezer stay true to form on the classic rock gem, save for more modern-sounding takes on David Paich's swirly keyboard solo and Steve Lukather's patented power chord riffing.
"Rosanna" and "Africa" were a pair of hits on 1982's mammoth Toto IV album. At the 25th GRAMMY Awards, "Rosanna" captured Record Of The Year Honors and Toto IV earned Album Of The Year.
Weezer were recently featured on the GRAMMY Museum's "Required Listening" podcast, during which the group detailed their 2016 self-titled album (aka "The White Album"). Will the group go for a third Toto cover?