Rising like a stone?

As you have probably suspected for some time, today's post will be about song lyrics that employ strange similes to describe the way that something rises!

Our first competitor is, of course, Africa, by Toto. This one is an interesting case, because although I could always tell that Kilimanjaro was rising like something above the Serengeti, it took me a while to work out exactly what comparison was being made. At first, I was fairly sure the line was

I know that I must do what's right,
As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a Memphis above the Serengeti

Now obviously that doesn't make much sense. I suppose, as Wikipedia tells me, Memphis was briefly a Confederate stronghold in the American Civil War, so presumably it "rose" against the Union... But that's stretching it a bit. Anyway, I think the degree to which that made no sense made me switch my interpretation of the line to

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like a Phoenix above the Serengeti

This interpretation makes much more sense. You know, Phoenixes, with their Rising from the Ashes. They rise. Things can therefore rise like them. I'd buy that. Unfortunately... Objection! The word(s) in question, upon listening, actually sound nothing like "A Phoenix." I suspect I only ever got this version in my mind by confusing Memphis and Phoenix, as two American cities, and sticking to the latter due to its making more sense. It was only relatively recently that I discovered what the lyrics actually were:

As sure as Kilimanjaro rises like Olympus above the Serengeti

Yep, those are the actual words. You can see how I made my mistake; Olympus... A Memphis... They sound kinda similar. "So anyway," you say, "there's nothing really strange about that simile, is there?" Well here's what gets me... Toto obviously want to employ some kind of evocative descriptive technique to conjure an image of how a mountain rises out of the ground... So they do so by comparing it to... The way a different mountain rises out of the ground. What the hell kind of simile is that? Frankly, I would've prefered "A Phoenix."

My advice to Toto: try studying Genesis. I mean, the band, not the book. When they want to describe the way a mountain rises, they do it with style, as in The Fountain Of Salmacis.

From a dense forest of tall dark pinewood
Mount Ida rises like an island.

See, that simile actually does some kind of evocative work. Bit of a cliché perhaps, but I'm still giving it kudos.

Our next strange simile to describe the way that something rises comes from a song I haven't actually heard, alas. Namely, Fresh Air For My Mama by 10cc:

The cost of living in dreams
Is rising like a crime wave

Now, I'm inclined to give them some credit for making the simile relate to the themes of the song as a whole, but this still looks a little strange to me. Do crime waves really rise? I would've thought that, like actual waves, they would more Sweep or Crash or something. But then, maybe I'm not really up to speed with my wave collocations. Google has quite a few hits for "wave rising," so I'm probably off base here. You win this round, 10cc!!

My final simile, however... I'm fairly sure this one makes no sense. If someone wants to explain it to me, knock yourself out. It's from David Byrne's Glass, Concrete & Stone. The lines are

The Moon
Is rising like a discotheque

...
I think that one wins.