Twitter User Succeeds In Getting Band Weezer To Record "Africa" Cover
FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - The rains down in Africa have been blessed, along with a Twitter user who "jokingly" told alternative rock band Weezer to record a cover of the 1982 song "Africa" by Toto. The user, a 14-year-old girl named Mary from the Cleveland area, started her campaign in December 2017.
It began with a simple song request sent to the band's frontman, Rivers Cuomo.
The campaign quickly picked up steam when Weezer drummer Patrick Wilson noticed the teen's comment online and even responded with a brief, "I laughed." But the internet wasn't laughing. People online took the teen's song request seriously. And when the internet wants something, the universe has to oblige.
What followed was a nearly six-month online movement. Even the teen herself admitted, "#WeezerCoverAfrica has become something much bigger than me and this small account I first created as a joke." Soon, she started counting as her Twitter page gathered 500, 700, more than 1,000 fans.
The teen was encouraged by the internet's show of support, and Cuomo even started liking some related posts. But as the weeks ticked by, it seemed like the movement would all be in vain. Until the unthinkable happened last Thursday, and a new song was released by Weezer.
It was a cover of "Rosanna," by Toto.
A collective grumble spread across the internet as music fans were left scratching their heads. After months of asking for, nay, demanding a Weezer cover of "Africa," we all somehow found ourselves with a highly produced cover of the WRONG song by Toto. This had to be a joke, right?
Even the Ohio teenager was puzzled.
While some looked at the song's release as a small victory -- after all, they DID cover a song by Toto -- others viewed it as an obvious slap in the face, and continued to beg the band for a proper "Africa" cover. Radio station DC 101 even wondered online, "Did Weezer just musically troll #WeezerCoverAfrica?"
As it turns out, the answer was yes, that was the case. Always ones to have some fun with the internet, Weezer seemingly released the "Rosanna" cover solely to poke fun at the entire #WeezerCoverAfrica online campaign. As radio station CFOX in Vancouver said, "The troll becomes the trolled."
While the gag was cute, the band behind hits like "Buddy Holly" and "Beverly Hills" still owed the internet an "Africa" cover.
The day finally came on Tuesday morning, when Weezer released their latest track. It was, indeed, a cover of the Toto song "Africa." And the cover art used for the single was a screenshot of the teenager's tweet -- the one that started it all -- set against a jungle background.
"This whole thing proves why the internet can be awesome," said Twitter user P. Sannie Lee.
After one teenage fan's long push to reach her favorite band -- and get them to do something ridiculous -- there has been success. So, what does the girl plan to do now that she (with some help from the internet) has achieved her goal? "I don't know what's next," she tweeted. "Just let me enjoy this for a while."
