Malvina Reynolds: Song Lyrics and Poems  

Who's Going to Build the Ark?

Notes: words and music by Malvina Reynolds; copyright 1960 by Schroder Music Company, renewed 1988.

Who's going to build the Ark, the Ark?
Who's going to build the Ark?
The atomic rain is falling down,
Blights the country and dooms the town
And the sky is getting dark
Who's going to build the Ark?

The general's not going to build it.
He wouldn't carry a plank.
When he retires from the Army supply
He'll be president of the bank.
My Congressman don't want to build it
He's spending our money for war.
He wouldn't appropriate fifty cents
For a porthole or a door.

My minister's not going to build it,
Though yours may lend a hand.
The rest will be hiding under the bunks
Till we reach the promised land.
My editor's not going to build it,
He'll leave it to somebody else,
And you can't caulk a boat for an ocean ride
With the flimsy stuff he sells.

Banker's not going to build it,
The contract's not worth a dime,
Anything less than a full scale war
Is a waste of his precious time.
So you better grab a hammer,
And I'd better grab a plane,
Cause we've got to build an ark for the dove of peace,
And stop the atomic rain.

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

Other place(s) where the music to this song appears:
---- Sing Out!, Volume 11(2) (1961), p. 28

Malvina Reynolds recording(s) on which this song is performed:
---- [none]