These Plants Are Your Plants
Finally, a sing-along! Gail H. Marcus, former president of the American Nuclear Society (among other achievements and honors) wrote These Plants Are Your Plants. She posted the lyrics on her blog, Nuke Power Talk. She has written other songs, too, like Neutron Doodle.
Marcus was inspired to write nuclear songs by the way the depression-era hydro projects were encouraged by songs. The best song was Roll on Columbia by Woody Guthrie: "Your power is turning our darkness to dawn."
These Plants are Your Plants
(sung to the tune of "This Land is Your Land," by Woodie Guthrie)
Lyrics by Gail H. Marcus
Copyright Gail. H. Marcus
These plants are your plants
These plants are my plants
From their cooling towers
To their nuclear islands
From the U.S. Heartland
To its coastal waters
These plants were made for you and me.
As I was walking
That ribbon of highway
I saw before me
A smogless skyway
And sparkling waters
Were flowing my way
These plants are good for you and me.
The children were laughing
And people were singing
At all the wonders
The power was bringing
The lights were shining
And the bells were ringing
These atoms split for you and me.
And at the plant sites
The workers labored
To use the atom
To help their neighbors
With clean safe power
To fuel all nations
These plants bring joy to you and me.
These plants are your plants
These plants are my plants
From their cooling towers
To their nuclear islands
From Europe's vineyard
To Asia's water
These plants were made for you and me.
--------------
The Original
Warning: The verses about the hydro projects and the river locks (for navigation) are terrific. However, some of the Guthrie lyrics are very distasteful. The "wild Indian warriors"? Ouch. We forget how prejudice was part of standard speech, back in the Good Old Days.
No comments:
Post a Comment