Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  



Power Plant Reggae

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1977 Schroder Music Company, renewed 2005. "Thanks to Barry Commoner."


You can make steam in a boiler,
Or from the light of the sun,
But making steam in a nuclear plant
Is like shooting a fly with a gun.
Shooting a fly with a gun,
And the gun cost a billion or two.
If the gun gets hot
And the shooter gets shot,
The whole world's down the flue.

You can make steam in a boiler
So the generator will run,
But making power in a nuclear plant
Is like killing a flea with a gun.
Killing a flea with a gun,
And the gun shoots more ways than one;
If the gun gives out
And the shooter gets shot,
The whole damn world is done.

You can make steam in a boiler
Or on the gas stove at home,
But making steam in a nuclear plant
Is like killing a gnat with a bomb.
Killing a gnat with a bomb,
And the bomb costs a million to shoot,
If the bomb gets a crack
You can't send it back,
There'll be nobody left to do it.

You can make steam in a boiler,
Or from the light of the sun,
But making steam in a nuclear plant
Is like shooting a fly with a gun.
Shooting a fly with a gun,
And the gun costs a billion or two.
If the gun gets hot
And the shooter gets shot,
The whole world's down the flue.


Malvina Reynolds songbook(s) in which the music to this song appears:
---- [none]

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Broadside No. 141 (January-June 1979)

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- Mama Lion


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This page copyright 2006 by Charles H. Smith and Nancy Schimmel. All rights reserved.

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