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'Africa' By Toto Is Playing Endlessly Somewhere In The Namibian Desert

'Africa' By Toto Is Playing Endlessly Somewhere In The Namibian Desert

Artist Max Siedentopf​ has set up a solar-powered sound installation in the coastal Namib Desert to play on loop

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

We have some absurd thoughts before bed that keep us stirring at night. Why did Sally sell seashells on the seashore when you can pick the damn things up yourself? Is Queue just the letter 'Q' followed by four silent letters?

How do you know your memories are true? Is Toto's 'Africa' playing somewhere in the world, endlessly - on repeat?

Well, we might not be able to answer the former but we can now let you drift off peacefully if the latter starts to bother you because the world's oldest desert is now being blessed with one of the most streamed songs on the planet, yep, 'Africa' by Toto.

Namibian-German artist Max Siedentopf has set up a solar-powered sound installation in the Namib desert to play on loop - meaning that the classic will be echoing around for an eternity.

Max told the BBC: "[I] wanted to pay the song the ultimate homage and physically exhibit 'Africa' in Africa. Some [Namibians] love it and some say it's probably the worst sound installation ever. I think that's a great compliment."

Six speakers have been placed on top of white blocks and on a seventh block sits an MP3 player containing that song and that song only.

The artist picked an undisclosed area in the 55-million-year-old Namib desert and Max hoped it will play for millions more years.

He said: "Most parts of the installation were chosen to be as durable as possible, but I'm sure the harsh environment of the desert will devour the installation eventually."

Despite being released in 1982, the song is incredibly popular to this day and the official video has been viewed more than 440 million times on YouTube.

Toto orginal members Steve Porcaro, Steve Lukather and Joseph Williams in Virginia Beach.
PA

It seems that Max isn't the first person to have the idea of playing the song for a lengthy period. Back in September, a Bristol DJ planned to loop 'Africa' for five hours straight in a bid to raise money for charity.

The Exchange club's DJ, Michael Savage, actually ended up playing the US rock band's hit on vinyl from 23:00 to 11am - meaning that it was on for a total of 12 hours.

He said: "What started out as a really stupid idea from a stupid drunken night out has become a stupid reality."

"I love the track, it's unusual - the ultimate guilty pleasure - but I'm not sure whether I'll fall asleep or not. I feel quite sorry for the bar staff, they're going to be really stuck in the middle."

We might just manage to stay in the Bristol bar but we would not want to be in that part of the desert for the rest of our lives - as great a song it is.

Featured Image Credit: Vimeo/Max Siedentopf

Topics: Music, Community, Weird