Africa by Chris de Burgh at @theExpoCityDubai 11-Mar-2022

20 Jan 2023 · 4 min

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The provided text is a lyrical excerpt from Chris de Burgh's song "Africa," performed at Expo City Dubai on 11 March 2022. The passage features two alternating speakers (A and B) who convey a poetic narrative of a journey toward a loved one arriving on a 12:30 flight, interwoven with vivid African landscape imagery such as Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti. Speaker A describes a quest for salvation, encounters an old man offering cryptic guidance, and reflects on inner turmoil, while Speaker B expresses steadfast devotion, noting that nothing—no matter how massive—could separate them. The excerpt blends themes of longing, destiny, self‑confrontation, and the use of African natural symbols to frame an emotional struggle, creating a vivid, introspective, and hopeful tone.

Chapters

She's coming in 12:30 flight. Her moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me towards salvation. I stopped an old man along the way, hoping to find some long-forgotten words or ancient memories. He turned to me as if to say, Hurry boy, she's waiting there for you.
Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you. There's nothing that a hundred million or more could ever do. I guess the rain's coming and I'm looking up. Gonna take some time to do the things we never had.
Wild dogs cry out in the night as they grow restless, longing for some solitary company. I know that I must do what's right, sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti. I seek to kill what's deep inside, frightened of this thing that I've become.
Gonna take my life to drown it away. There's something in my heart that I'm walking out to. I'm gonna push the brakes, count it out. I'm gonna take some time to do all the things I never had.