Leningrad - Billy Joel: Song Lyrics, Music Videos & Concerts

Leningrad

157,782

Rock

Leningrad was released on October 17, 1989 by Columbia as a part of the album Storm Front

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Song Details

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00:00 - 00:05

Leningrad was discovered most frequently in the first few seconds of the song during the past week

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OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS

Billy Joel

Piano

The Hicksville High School Choir

The Hicksville High School Choir

Background Vocals

Liberty De Vitto

Liberty De Vitto

Drums

David Brown

Guitar

Schuyler Deale

Bass Guitar

Jeff Jacobs

Synthesizer

Dominic Cortese

Dominic Cortese

Accordion

Chuck Arnold

Background Vocals

John Mahoney

Programming

COMPOSITION & LYRICS

Billy Joel

Songwriter

Bill Zampino

Choir Arranger

Arif Mardin

Orchestrator

PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING

Billy Joel

Producer

Jay Healy

Mixing Engineer

Mick Jones

Producer

David Dorn

Assistant Engineer

Tim Crich

Assistant Engineer

Joe Pirerra

Assistant Engineer

Dana Becker

Assistant Engineer

Gary Solomon

Assistant Engineer

Suzanne Hollander

Suzanne Hollander

Assistant Engineer

Lyrics

[Verse 1]

Viktor was born in the spring of '44

And never saw his father anymore

A child of sacrifice, a child of war

Another son who never had a father after Leningrad

[Verse 2]

Went off to school and learned to serve the state

Followed the rules and drank his vodka straight

The only way to live was drown the hate

A Russian life was very sad, and such was life in Leningrad

[Chorus]

I was born in '49, a cold war kid in McCarthy time

Stop 'em all at the 38th Parallel, blast those yellow reds to hell

Cold war kids were hard to kill, under their desks in an air raid drill

Haven't they heard we won the war? What do they keep on fighting for?

[Verse 3]

Viktor was sent to some Red Army town

Served out his time, became a circus clown

The greatest happiness he'd ever found

Was making Russian children glad, and children lived in Leningrad

[Chorus]

Children lived in Levittown, hid in the shelters underground

Till the Soviets turned their ships around and tore the Cuban missiles down

And in that bright October sun, we knew our childhood days were done

And I watched my friends go off to war, what do they keep on fighting for?

[Verse 4]

And so my child and I came to this place

To meet him eye to eye and face to face

He made my daughter laugh, then we embraced

We never knew what friends we had until we came to Leningrad

Written by: Billy Joel

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