We never knew what friends we had
Until we came to Leningrad Billy Joel's "Leningrad" is a postcard of his time and tour in Russia in 1987. In some ways it is also a Russian counterpart to his 1982 song "Allentown." Musically, the songs are nothing alike, but thematically they are very similar, tracing the lives of ordinary people during the Cold War years, as embodied by the character Viktor in "Leningrad" (Viktor Razinov, a Russian circus clown whom became friends with Billy during his Russia tour). In an article in the Orlando Sentinel from 1989, Billy explains how he musically contrasted the story of Viktor, the Russian, with himself, the American. "I put the Russian guy in major keys and the America kid in minor keys. I went for an interesting juxtaposition, because the Russian modality is usually a minor modality. So I reversed it."
Viktor and friend. Credit: Mary Ellen Mark.
Billy had an obvious affection for the people he met in Russia; the "enemy" was actually not much different than us. This is one of the better songs on Storm Front but is often overlooked by Billy Joel fans and favorable critics. It's political, but from a personal point of view. "What do they keep on fighting for?"
Billy discusses "Leningrad" on SiriusXM.
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Words and Music 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 at the 38th Parallel Blast those yellow Reds to hell And 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 laugh And children lived in Leningrad But children lived in Levittown And 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 Leningrad Vertical Divider
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Billy was backed on the song by the students from his alma mater, the Hicksville High School Choir. ''I needed a choral group on the symphonic section of the song,'' he said. ''I didn't want highly trained operatic voices, so I called Chuck Arnold [my choir director in high school] he was the only teacher who encouraged me to go into music. Everyone else said, 'You've got to get a real job.' But Chuck was a beatnik teacher who said, 'You should be a musician. You got a great ear and you should keep writing songs.' So this was my way of paying him back.''
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Oleg Smirnoff and Billy Joel. Source: Houston Press
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During his concerts and press conferences in Russia, Billy was accompanied by translator Oleg Smirnoff and by Viktor who came to each concert. The trip had a profound effect on Billy, his group, and the Russian people. Read the special edition of The Root Beer Rag about the tour, with photos by renowned photographer, the late Mary Ellen Mark.
Columbia Records did not release "Leningrad" as a single in the U.S. but the song did reach #14 in Germany and #15 in the Netherlands. This is another song that would fit on Billy's European collection ("Nocturne," "Vienna," "C'etait Toi" and "Through The Long Night"). Two years before the release of "Leningrad" on Storm Front, Columbia Records did release the live album Kohuept featuring most of the songs from Billy's concerts in Leningrad and Moscow. At the time, Columbia also released a video of the concerts, "Live in Leningrad" and a documentary of Billy's Russia trip entitled "A Matter of Trust."
Columbia Records did not release "Leningrad" as a single in the U.S. but the song did reach #14 in Germany and #15 in the Netherlands. This is another song that would fit on Billy's European collection ("Nocturne," "Vienna," "C'etait Toi" and "Through The Long Night"). Two years before the release of "Leningrad" on Storm Front, Columbia Records did release the live album Kohuept featuring most of the songs from Billy's concerts in Leningrad and Moscow. At the time, Columbia also released a video of the concerts, "Live in Leningrad" and a documentary of Billy's Russia trip entitled "A Matter of Trust."
Oleg Smirnoff, Viktor Razinov, Billy Joel, and Andrew Coknob reunited in October 2015. Source: BillyJoel.com. Photo: Jeff Schock.
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In 2014, a new documentary on Billy's historic concerts in Russia aired on Showtime, A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia. This program was later released on DVD along with new CDs and a DVD of the concerts with additional songs under the same title. The new CDs contained several more songs than in 1987's Kohuept, and the concert DVD contained more songs than the 1987 videocassette Live from Leningrad.
In 2015, Oleg Smirnoff, Victor Razinov, and Andrew Coknob were reunited with Billy at a concert at Madison Square Garden on October 29, 2015. They traveled from Russia to see Billy perform. See article from BillyJoel.com. See also Alexa Ray Joel's sweet Instagram post about meeting Viktor again. |
Background photo for this page is a still shot from A Matter of Trust documentary. Billy Joel and Victor Razinov share a fun moment. Razinov went to all of the concerts in Russia and became friends with Billy, Christie and Alexa.