Leningrad

Victor was born 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 his state

Followed 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 McCarthy time

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?

Victor 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.

But children lived in Levittown

And hid in the shelters underground

Til 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?

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.