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Leningrad

Billy Joel

Text File

#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
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#----------------------------------PLEASE NOTE---------------------------------#
#This file is the author's own work and represents their interpretation of the #
#song. You may only use this file for private study, scholarship, or research. #
#------------------------------------------------------------------------------#

Date: Fri, 13 Dec 1996 13:11:20 +0000
From: Claus_Hetzer@BAYLOR.EDU
Subject: Corrected CRD: 'Leningrad' by Billy Joel

Leningrad

Written by Billy Joel
>From his album Storm Front

Transcribed by Claus Hetzer (Claus_Hetzer@baylor.edu)

Well, this is one of Billy Joel's best songs. Originally on piano, of course,
and I'm not sure what key it was written in; I've put it in G.

Verse Chord Pattern 1:

G          Am   C              D
Victor was born the spring of '44
G         Am  C          D
And never saw his father anymore
G          C          G          Em
A child of sacrifice, a child of war
G       D             Em           C D        G
Another son who never had a father after Leningrad

Pattern 1:
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.

Verse Chord Pattern 2:

Gm                   Dm                Bb
I was born in '49, a cold war kid in McCarthy time
F                              D
Stop 'em at the 38th parallel, blast those yellow Reds to Hell
Gm                              Dm                      Bb
Cold war kids were hard to kill under their desks in an air raid drill
F
Haven't they heard we won the war
D
What do they keep on fighting for?


Pattern 1:
Victor was sent to some Red Army town
Served out his time, became a circus clown
The greatest happiness he ever found
Was making Russian children glad, and children lived in Leningrad.

Pattern 2:
Children lived in Levittown, headed for shelter underground
'Til the Soviets turned their ships around, 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?

Pattern 1:
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.