The Gentle Rain That Falls For Years

Joan Baez: **

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?

--Malvina Reynolds
What Have They Done to the Rain? **

Marianne Faithfull: **


** 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.