Leningrad

by Billy Joel

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

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

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?
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

Children lived in Levittown
Hid in the shelters underground
Until 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?

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 Leningrad8EmbedShare URLCopyEmbedCopy