Toto - Africa: Guitar Chords

Learn to play "Africa" on your guitar with our chord guide. This page provides everything you need to perform this song on the guitar, including lyrics integrated with chords, chord diagrams, and a key transposer to match your vocal range.

For easier playing, use our Simplify Chords feature to remove difficult chords like barre.

B                  D#m     G#m
I hear the drums echoing tonight
B/F#             A/E            C#m
She hears only whispers of some quiet
    G#m  A G#m C#m
conversation
B                D#m           G#m
She's coming in, twelve thirty flight
        B/F#        A/E                  Bsus/F#
The moonlit wings reflect the stars that guide me
         G#m A G#m C#m
toward salvation

B            D#m               G#m
I stopped an old man along the way
       B/F#         A/E           Bsus/F#
Hoping to find some old forgotten words or
        G#m  A  G#m C#m
ancient melodies
B            D#m         G#m
He turned to me as if to say “hurry boy,
      A                  C#m
it's waiting there for you”

Chorus:
F#m           D               A        E
Gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
F#m                     D              A
There's nothing that a hundred men or more
            E
could ever do
F#m          D         A     E
I bless the rains down in Africa
F#m              D               A
Gonna take some time to do the things we never
 C#m E F#m  E/G#  A
had.
    A G#m C#m
Ooo Ooo

The 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 cure what's deep inside
Frightened of this thing that I've become

Chorus

B D#7 G#m                   A                 C#m
         “hurry boy, she's waiting there for you”

Chorus:
It's gonna take a lot to drag me away from you
There's nothin' that a hundred men or
more could ever do
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rains)
I bless the rains down in Africa (I bless the rains)
I bless the rains down in Africa
I bless the rains down in Africa
(Ah, gonna take the time)
We're gonna take some time to do
the things we never had
Ooh-hoo


You can simplify chords by removing barre

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Simplify chords by removing barre

Guitar Chord Diagrams

A

Guitar chord A

B

Guitar chord B

C#m

Guitar chord C#m

D

Guitar chord D

D#7

Guitar chord D#7

D#m

Guitar chord D#m

E

Guitar chord E

F#

Guitar chord F#

F#m

Guitar chord F#m

G#

Guitar chord G#

G#m

Guitar chord G#m

Here you can see detailed diagrams for each guitar chord used in the song. Utilize our key transposer to adjust the chords to a key that better fits your singing range. Simply select the desired key, and the chords throughout this page will update automatically, ensuring you can play and sing comfortably.

If you are also interested in learning how to play "Africa" on the ukulele, check out the chords on our sister site: Ukulele Chords for "Africa" by Toto.