Mortal City

Mortal City is Dar Williams' second album, released in January 1996 by Razor & Tie.

Mortal City
Studio album by Dar Williams
Released	January 23, 1996
Studio	Sorcer Sound, Spa Studios and Live Wire, New York City
Genre	Folk
Length	42:16
Label	Razor & Tie
Producer	Steven Miller
Dar Williams chronology
The Honesty Room (1993) Mortal City (1996) End of The Summer (1997)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
Robert Christgau

The songs "As Cool as I Am" and "The Christians and the Pagans" were released as singles in 1996; the former was also accompanied by a music video. Unlike Williams' previous album, The Honesty Room, which was entirely acoustic, Mortal City featured electric backup on a number of the album's songs, particularly "The Ocean" and "The Blessings".

Joan Baez covered the song "February" on the album Gone from Danger.

Track listing

All songs written by Dar Williams, except where noted.

1. "As Cool As I Am" – 3:35
2. "February" – 3:51
3. "Iowa (Travelling III)" – 4:46
4. "The Christians and the Pagans" – 3:03
5. "This Was Pompeii" – 3:53
6. "The Ocean" – 5:16
7. "Family" (Pierce Pettis) – 3:22
8. "The Pointless, Yet Poignant, Crisis of a Co-Ed" – 3:12
9. "The Blessings" – 3:50
10. "Southern California Wants To Be Western New York" – 4:08
11. "Mortal City" – 7:15

Personnel

• Dar Williams – vocals (all tracks), guitar (2-11)
• William Galison – harmonica (1), mandolin (4)
• Larry Campbell – guitar (1,3,10), dobro (3), fiddle (7), mandolin (10)
• Mark Egan – bass (1)
• Art Baron – digeridoo (1)
• Sammy Merendino – rhythm textures (1)
• Roger Squitero – bongos (1)
• Katryna Nields – vocals (1)
• Nerissa Nields – vocals (1)
• Erik Friedlander – cello (2,11)
• Cliff Eberhardt – vocals (3)
• Lucy Kaplansky – vocals (4)
• Zev Katz – bass (4,6,9)
• Billy Ward – snare drum (4), drums (6,9)
• Mark Shulman – electric guitar (5)
• John Prine – vocals (6)
• Jeff Golub – electric guitar (6,9)
• Eileen Ivers – fiddle (6)
• Gideon Freudmann – cello (8)
• Steve Gaboury – piano (11), textures (11)

External links

• Lyrics and tabs (for all Dar Williams albums)