"gonna take a lot to drag me away from you / there's nothing that a hundred men or more could ever do"

so why is the singer not with her now?

This is my theory of Toto's "Africa:"

in Toto's "Africa," why is the speaker in Africa in the first place?

Answer: he is "hoping to find some long-forgotten words or ancient melodies."

He is a student of the occult.

Why has the singer of Toto's "Africa" gone to Africa, leaving his love, in order to hunt up obscure folklore? He tells you: "I seek to cure what's deep inside / frightened of this thing that I've become."

ie, he's a goddamn werewolf

"wild dogs cry out in the night / as they grow restless, longing for some solitary company"

those aren't dogs

Why does he bless the rains down in Africa? Because the cloud cover blocks the moon.

tl;dr: Toto's "Africa" is about a lovesick werewolf in Africa seeking out ancient lore to find a cure for his unfortunate condition.

A belated update: either The Werewolf Theory is officially canon or Steve Lukather of Toto is the classiest dude around

okay, it’s almost certainly the latter

but it COULD be both
https://twitter.com/stevelukather/status/1300170228098187265?s=21 https://twitter.com/stevelukather/status/1300170228098187265