Dar Williams - Mortal City lyrics

The cold comes through 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 the 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 Mortal City

The cold comes through every 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 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 wish 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