Mortal City

Mortal City
Studio album by Dar Williams
Released	January 23, 1996
Recorded	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	link
Robert Christgau	[1]

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

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".

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)

References

External links

• Lyrics and tabs (for all Dar Williams albums)