What Have They Done to the Rain
"What Have They Done to the Rain" is a protest song against above-ground nuclear testing written by Malvina Reynolds. The song has been sung by many singers such as Joan Baez, and a version by the English band The Searchers was released as a single, which charted in the US and UK. Background In the late 1950s, concerns began to be raised over above-ground nuclear testing, which produced nuclear fallout that came down to earth in the rain. Such nuclear fallout contained radioactive Strontium-90 that can enter the food chain through the grass eaten by cows and finally into human as food. Marches against nuclear testing were organized by Women for Peace and Women Strike for Peace in the 1960s, and Malvina Reynolds was among those active in the campaign. Reynolds composed the song in 1962, first entitled "Rain Song", as part of the campaign and Reynolds performed the song in marches. The lyrics talk of grass and a little boy in the rain, both of whom disappear after years of such rain. Although the song is about radioactive fallout, later the song also became identified with acid rain. Reynolds recorded the song, which was later included in a Smithsonian