4979. What Have They Done to the Rain? (by Malvina Reynolds) Stonnington U3A

A song from my presentation on. the life and songs of Malvina Reynolds at Stonnington U3A

This song, about nuclear fallout, is one of Malvina Reynolds' most popular songs It has been covered by many singers, including The Searchers, The New Seekers, Peter, Paul and Mary, Pete Seeger and Marianne Faithfull. I first heard it sung by Joan Baez, the first time she recorded a song with a "message", as opposed to the traditional ballads of her earliest recordings.

Lyrics and chords:
C ........................ F .............. C
Just a little rain falling all around.
......... Em .............. G7 ............. C
The grass lifts its head to the heavenly sound.
Am .................... Em
Just a little rain, just a little rain.
F ............................................ G
What have they done to the rain?

C ........................... F .................. C
Just a little boy, standing in the rain,
........ Em ................. Dm . E7 Am
The gentle rain that falls for years.
................ F .............................. Em
And the grass is gone and the boy disappears.
........ Dm .......... G7 ............ G .......... A7
And rain keeps falling like helpless tears,
......... Dm ................. Dm7 ........... G
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?
What have they done to the rain?

You can see a playlist of my Malvina Reynolds songs here:
   • Malvina Reynolds  

I am now posting lyrics to the information panels on all my videos. Any that are too long to post in full will be found on my website: https://raymondsfolkpage.wordpress.com