What Have They Done to the Rain ?

Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems


Escrita por Malvina Reynolds contra os testes nucleares "What have they done to the rain?" é uma espécie de hino contra qualquer tipo de causa que possa interferir na natureza em termos de radiação - é uma canção escrita em 1962 mas que será sempre contemporânea.

Com a catástrofe que atingiu o Japão além do problema ocasionado pelo terremoto e tsunami, eles tem que lutar contra o tempo para evitar um desastre nuclear em Fukushima. Vamos torcer para que a Engenharia solucione o mais breve possível este problema, porém já ficou gravado em nossa memória e que possa servir de exemplo para que todos os governos reavaliem seus programas de energia nuclear.

"Deus abençõe e proteja estes heróis que lutam contra um desastre nuclear"


What Have They Done to the Rain?

Words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1962 as "Rain Song" then in 1964 as "What Have They Done to the Rain" by Schroder Music Company, renewed 1990. a.k.a. "Rain Song" and "Just a Little Rain." People now think of this as a song about acid rain, but it was originally written as part of a campaign to stop aboveground nuclear testing, which was putting strontium-90 in the air, where it was washed down by the rain, got into the soil and thence to the grass, which was eaten by cows. When children drank the cows’ milk the strontium-90, chemically similar to calcium but radioactive, was deposited in their bones. Mothers saved their children’s baby teeth and sent them in to be tested by scientists who indeed found elevated levels of strontium-90 in their teeth. A year after this song was written, President Kennedy signed the treaty against aboveground testing.



What have they done to the rain?


Just a little rain falling all around,
The grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound,
Just a little rain, just a little rain,
What have they done to the rain?


Just a little boy standing in the rain,
The gentle rain that falls for years.
And the grass is gone,
The boy disappears,

And rain keeps falling like helpless tears,
And what have they done to the rain?


Just a little breeze out of the sky,
The leaves pat their hands as the breeze blows by,
Just a little breeze with some smoke in its eye,
What have they done to the rain?


Just a little boy standing in the rain,
The gentle rain that falls for years.
And the grass is gone,
The boy disappears,
And rain keeps falling like helpless tears,

And what have they done to the rain?