Fun Moments in Misheard Lyrics: Toto

For whatever reason, I have spent most of my life so far thinking that Toto was singing about “Kilimanjaro ris[ing] like a leopress above the Serengeti.”

I am now pretty much certain that they’re singing that “Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti.”

This makes perfect sense, considering that Kilimanjaro and Olympus are both mountains (well, one’s a volcano, but you get the idea), and Kilimanjaro looms over the Serengeti—or at least the general vicinity of the Serengeti—in a way that is surely reminiscent of the divine nature ascribed to Olympus at various points in history. (The Olympus in Greece, I mean. Not so much the ones in Washington, Utah, or Mars.)

It also makes sense because:

  1. I’m not sure “leopress” is even an actual word used to describe a female leopard (although it does describe a WordPress theme), and
  2. In what possible way could a volcano rise above the savannah in a way that is reminiscent of a mostly-jungle-dwelling large cat?

Think about it. But hurry, boy—it’s waiting there for you.

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