album cover
artist
Billy Joel
Leningrad
159,524
Rock
Leningrad was released on October 17, 1989 by Columbia as a part of the album Storm Front
album cover
Most Popular
Past 7 Days
00:35 - 00:40
Leningrad was discovered most frequently at around 35 seconds into the song during the past week
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OVERVIEW

LYRICS

Music Video

Music Video

Credits

PERFORMING ARTISTS
Billy Joel
The Hicksville High School Choir
The Hicksville High School Choir
Background Vocals
Liberty De Vitto
Liberty De Vitto
Drums
David Brown
David Brown
Guitar
Schuyler Deale
Schuyler Deale
Bass Guitar
Jeff Jacobs
Jeff Jacobs
Synthesizer
Dominic Cortese
Dominic Cortese
Accordion
Chuck Arnold
Chuck Arnold
Background Vocals
John Mahoney
John Mahoney
Programming
COMPOSITION & LYRICS
Billy Joel
Billy Joel
Songwriter
Bill Zampino
Bill Zampino
Choir Arranger
Arif Mardin
Arif Mardin
Orchestrator
PRODUCTION & ENGINEERING
Billy Joel
Billy Joel
Producer
Jay Healy
Jay Healy
Mixing Engineer
Mick Jones
Mick Jones
Producer
David Dorn
David Dorn
Assistant Engineer
Tim Crich
Tim Crich
Assistant Engineer
Joe Pirerra
Joe Pirerra
Assistant Engineer
Dana Becker
Dana Becker
Assistant Engineer
Gary Solomon
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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