Mortal City

Dar WilliamsDar Williams 

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Dar Williams

Dar Williams (Dorothy Snowden Williams, born April 19, 1967) is an American singer-songwriter specializing in pop folk. Hendrik Hertzberg of the The New Yorker has described Williams as "one of America’s very best singer-songwriters." more »

Year:

1996

7:15

188 Views

Playlists:

#1

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She never should have rented this apartment in the Mortal City 
The cold comes though every crack she puts her hand up to 
The radiator's broken, so she has to use electric heat. 

And tonight was the first date with the brother of the guy she worked next to 
He lived a couple streets away 
He listened, he had things to say 
She asked him up for dinner sometime 
Sometime was tonight 

The radio gave updates on the ice storm while she made the dinner 
They said, from all the talk, you shouldn't drive or even walk 
And this just in, we're asking everyone to turn off their power 
They need it at the hospital. 

She ran around pulling plugs, then she called him up 
Maybe now they shouldn't meet, he said that he would brave the streets 
She met him at the door with a blanket and a candle
Saying, I heard it on the radio, I had to turn my power off. 

He said you're not the only one, the streets were dark tonight, 
It was like another century
With dim lamps and candles lighting up the icy trees and the clouds and a covered moon. 

She said what kind of people make a city 
Where you can't see the sky and you can't feel the ground? 

I tell you something, I have this feeling that this city's dying 
He said, it's not dying it's the people who are dying 
She said, yes, yes I think the people are dying and nobody cares. 

We had all this technology our dreams were bold and vague 
And then one city got bad planners, one city got the plague. 

He asked why did you move here? She said, for the job 
For the job and I've been so lonely here, so lonely 
There's no one I can talk to, you know I don't even know your brother. 

He smiled and said, sometimes at night I walk out by the river 
The city's one big town, the water turns it upside down 
People found this city because they love other people 
They want their secretaries, they want their power lunches. 

And think about tonight, I heard the same newscast you did 
I unplugged everything, I looked out the window 
And I think the city heard, I watched as one by one the lights went off 
So they could give their power to the hospital 

They ate in silence while she thought this over, 
They sat together in a dark room in the Mortal City 
Shifting in their blankets so they wouldn't get spaghetti on them. 

Then came the awkward moment after dinner, what to do, 
The ice was still falling, the streets were still dangerous 
The cabs were not running and this neighborhood was not the greatest. 

They both looked at the space where a couch would've been 
She felt her stomach sink, she felt like she could hardly think 

She said, I never should have rented this apartment in the Mortal City 
The cold comes through eve crack I put my hand up to 
The radiator doesn't work, I have to use electric heat. 

That settled it, they would both sleep in her bed 
It was a matter of survival. 

She brought out t-shirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, socks, hats 
If there was ever any thought of what would happen in that bed tonight 
There was no question now 
They could barely move 
They were wrapped up like ornaments waiting for another season. 

They lay in bed, they listened to the pelting ice 
He said my brother's not a bad guy, he's just quiet 
I wished you liked this city 
She said, maybe I do. 

I think I have a special kind of hearing tonight 
I hear the neighbors upstairs 
I hear my heart beating 
I hear one thousand hearts beating at the hospital 
And one thousand hearts by their bedsides waiting 
Saying that's my love in the white gown, 

We are not lost in the Mortal City 
We are not lost in the Mortal City

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