Dar Williams - Mortal City Lyrics
She never should have rented this apartment in the mortal cityThe cold comes though evey crack she puts her hand up toThe radiators broken, so she has to use electric heat.And tonight was the first date with the brother of the guy she worked next toHe lived a couple streets awaHe listened, he had things to sayShe asked him up for dinner sometimeSometime was tonightThe radio gave updates on the ice storm while she made the dinnerThey said, from all the talk, you shouldnt drive or even walkAnd this just in -- were asking everyone to turn off their powerThey need it at the hostpital.She ran around pulling plugs, then she called him upMaybe now they shouldnt meet, he said that he would brave the streetsShe met him at the door with a blanket and a candleSaying, I heard it on the radio, I had to turn my power off.He said youre not the only one, the streets were dark tonight,It was like another centuryWith dim lamps and candles lighting up the icy trees and the clouds and a covered moon.She said what kind of people make a cityWhere you cant see the sky and you cant feel the ground?I tell you something, I have this feeling that this citys dyingHe said, its not dying its the people who are dyingShe said, yes yes I think the people are dying and nobody cares.We had all this technology our dreams were bold and vagueAnd then one city got bad planners, one city got the plague.He asked why did you move here? she said, for the jobFor the job and Ive been so lonely here, so lonelyTheres no one I can talk to, you know I dont even know your brother.He smiled and said, sometimes at night I walk out by the riverThe citys one big town, the water turns it upside downPeople found this city because they love other peopleThey want their secretaries, they want their power lunches.And think about tonight, I heard the same newscast you didI unplugged everything, I looked out the windowAnd I think the city heard, I watched as one by one the lights went offSo they could give their power to the hospitalThey ate in silence while she thought this over,They sat together in a dark room in the mortal cityShifting in their blankets so they wouldnt get spaghetti on them.Then came the awkward moment after dinner, what to do,The ice was still falling, the streets were still dangerousThe cabs were not running and this neighborhood was not the greatest.They both looked at the space where a couch wouldve beenShe felt her stomach sink, she felt like she could hardly thinkShe said, I never should have rented this apartment in the mortal cityThe cold comes through eve crack I put my hand up toThe radiator doesnt work, I have to use electric heat.That settled it, they would both sleep in her bedIt was a matter of survival.She brought out teeshirts, sweatshirts, sweatpants, socks, hatsIf there was ever any thought of what would happen in that bed tonightThere wa no question nowThey could barely moveThey were wrapped up like ornaments waiting for another season.They lay in bed, they listened to the pelting iceHe said my brothers not a bad guy, hes just quietI wished you liked this cityShe said, maybe I do.I think I have a special kind of hearing tonightI hear the neighbors upstairsI hear my heart beatingI hear one thousand hearts beating at the hospitalAnd one thousand hearts by their bedsides waitingSaying thats my love in the white gown,We are not lost in the mortal cityWe are not lost in the mortal city
