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Leningrad

Billy Joel
Language: English


Billy Joel

List of versions


Related Songs

Goodnight Saigon
(Billy Joel)
Allentown
(Billy Joel)


Album: Storm Front - 1989

Lyrics and music by Billy Joel
Testo e musica di Billy Joel
Leningrad single

Probabile che questa sia una delle più belle canzoni della raccolta, sicuramente un inserimento molto (anzi troppo) tardivo.

The song was written by Billy about a Russian clown named Viktor Razinov, whom he met while touring the Soviet Union in 1987. Throughout the song, major items of Viktor's and Billy's lives are compared to show the cultural differences and similarities of the United States of America and the Soviet Union.

In the song, Billy describes Viktor's life as one of many Soviet children who lost fathers during World War II, specifically during the siege of Leningrad. He enlisted in the Red Army, drank vodka to fight the pain, and then became a circus clown, bringing joy to Russian children.

Billy described his childhood life as being "born in 49, a cold war kid in McCarthy time." He briefly describes his life living in Levittown, and the fear of the Cuban Missile Crisis. Billy also makes a reference to the Korean War, a proxy war to the Cold War, as well as the Vietnam War.

In the end, the two meet after Billy's Leningrad concert (Viktor had journeyed across Russia to see all six of the Russian concerts), where Viktor draws a laugh from Billy's daughter Alexa, then they hug. In the song's last line Billy sings, "We never knew what friends we had, until we came to Leningrad."

The quote is printed on the single cover, but not on the cover of the 4 track CD, which instead features the titles of the extra songs: "Goodnight Saigon", "Vienna", "Scandinavian Skies".

In 2015 Viktor traveled to New York to visit Billy Joel's concert in Madison Square Garden. For this reunion Billy played Leningrad, which he rarely plays live.

wikipedia
Viktor was born
The spring of 44
and never saw
His father anymore
The child of sacrifice
child of war
Another son who never had
A father after Leningrad
Went off to school
and learned to serve his state
follow the rules
and drank his vodka straight
the only way to live
was drown the hate
the russian life was very sad
and such was life in leningrad

I was born in 49
A cold war kid in the McCarthy times
Stop 'em 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
become a circus clown
the greastst happiness
he'd ever found
was making russian children glad
when children lived in leningrad.

The children lived in Levittown
hid in the shelters underground
Til the soviets turned their ships around
torn the cuban missiles down
and in that bright October sun
we knew our childhood days were done
I watched my friends go off to war
What do they keep on fighting for?

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.

Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2007/3/18 - 01:18



Language: Italian

Traduzione di Roberto Malfatti
LENINGRADO

Victor nacque
nella primavera del '44
e non ha potuto rivedere
suo padre
Un figlio del sacrificio
un figlio della guerra
un altro figlio che non ha mai avuto
un padre dopo Leningrado
E' andata a scuola
e ha imparato a servire il suo Paese
a seguire le regole
e a bere la vodka in un solo sorso
L'unico modo per sopravvivere
era annegare l'odio
In Russia la vita era molto triste
e tale era la vita a Leningrado

Io sono nato nel '49
un figlio della guerra fredda ai tempi di McCarthy
"fermiamoli al 38° parallelo
facciamo saltare in aria quei comunisti gialli e spediamoli all'inferno"
I figli della guerra fredda erano tosti
sotto al banco durante le esercitazioni che simulavano un attacco aereo
li avete mai sentiti dire "abbiamo vinto!"
"ma per cosa stanno combattendo?"

Viktor fu mandato
in una città base dell'Armata Rossa"
Terminata la ferma si congedò
e diventò clown in un circo
Niente lo rendeva felice
quanto il dare gioia ai bambini russi
quando i bambini vivevano a Leningrado

I bambini vivevano a Levittown
nascosti nei rifugi sotterranei
fino a quando i sovietici hanno richiamato le loro navi
e smontato i missili installati a Cuba
E nella splendente luce di quell'Ottobre
capimmo che i giorni della nostra infanzia erano finiti
Guardai i miei amici che andavano alla guerra
"ma per cosa stanno combattendo?"

Così la mia bambina e io siamo venuti qui
per incontrarlo, occhi negli occhi e viso a viso
Lui ha fatto ridere mia figlia
poi ci siamo abbracciati
Non abbiamo mai saputo che amici meravigliosi avevamo
fino a che non siamo venuti a Leningrado

Contributed by Roberto Malfatti - 2016/8/17 - 18:21




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