Dar Williams Mortal City Lyrics:
She never should have rented this apartment in the
Mortal City The cold comes though evey 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 awa 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 hostpital.

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.
[ Find more Lyrics on http://mp3lyrics.org/HnA ]

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 teeshirts, sweatshirts,
sweatpants, socks, hats If there was ever any
thought of what would happen in that bed tonight
There wa 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
Lyrics: Mortal City, Dar Williams [end]