Lisa Denton and Barry Courter
BARRY COURTER: Lisa, I’ve been singing (in my head, thankfully, most will agree) “I bless the rains down in Africa” all week, and it suddenly occurred to me that I have no clue what that even means.
LISA DENTON: You’re farther along than I am. I’ve always thought it was, “I bet the rains down in Africa / Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.”
I wondered how powerful those rains must be to do, well, whatever they’re gonna take some time to do. OK, so even with the right word, I’m still lost in these lyrics.
BARRY: So I did what any human being in 2017 would do and went to Google. It’s either about a guy in love with an African woman, a woman’s reproductive organ or the Communist takeover of South Africa and Rhodesia, according to some interpreters.
LISA: The Communist takeover is beyond my historical knowledge, but I can totally see the love thing. But it’s only on the man’s part, judging by the opening lines: “I hear the drums echoing tonight / But she hears only whispers of some quiet conversation.” Sounds like those pounding drums mean he’s all hot and bothered, and she just wants to be friends.