Leningrad

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3 MORE DAYS!!!

The songs I’m posting for my top ten are in no particular order from my least favorite to most favorite or anything like that. They are just my favorites …. and I could have done a top 20 list of his songs, but the concert isn’t THAT far away!

I’m posting these favorite songs because I was given A Magical Gift recently.

Leningrad

The lyrics of the song really say it all. I picked the original music video to share here because Viktor, the character of the song, was an actual person. He met Billy Joel because he attended almost every concert in Russia, and he is actually in the video.  When it first came out, I didn’t really care for the song…. I think that the power of it comes mostly from it being a true story about how their lives paralleled, and the similarities of their experiences. I remember growing up with a sense of hatred towards the USSR, even though I knew nothing about the country or it’s people.

In 2015, Viktor came to Madison Square Garden from Russia, to see Billy Joel play again. I can only imagine what that experience must have been like. When Billy Joel was in Russia, Viktor was quoted as saying, “You coming here, it’s not just music, it will be a bridge. It will bridge the gap in the relations between our countries.”  Well for me, Viktor’s friendship with Billy Joel, and the song that came from it, has bridged a new perspective towards Russia for me.