Like or Dislike: Street Angel

[skcin]

I never, ever got into this song initially (I think I had Enchanted before I had Street Angel, so I probably heard it first in 98.) Maybe because it's so dark, and in 98 with Enchanted & Storytellers & all that happiness & energy, it didn't fit Stevie for me. For years, I payed it no attention.

Over the past 3 or 4 years, I began to appreciate this song. A lot. Now I like it because it's a bit dark. Haunting. It's very different, I think she really took a risk here. The harmonies with David Crosby? Chilling. The music is so...minimal? Sparse? I can't find the right word (man, I need a thesaurus.) It just sets the mood, hanging out in the background letting the lyrics tell the story & not overshadowing the vocals at all.

I know people say this is about the homeless, and I think Stevie has said as much in interviews, but I don't think that's the whole story. Not all of the lyrics fit with that explanation. Of course, when is a song of Stevie's only about 1 thing?

Favorite lyrics:

No amount of crying...changes your mind
No amount of praying...brings you inside
I know that you love me...
and that you always will
You just stand outside and call to me...
My sweet street angel

A Charles Dickens character,
with your top hat and your scarf
When you pull me through the rainbow...
I thought you'd stop
But you didn't...you turned around...
You went back to the children...and your music...
And the people that you love

AND

So I ended it all...for the both of us
I fell down the stairs...a broken rag doll
But you never knew...you just thought I went away
With nothing more to hope for...
But you don't hear voices anymore
No...my sweet street angel

Love the vocal on this verse:

I can't help but wonder if...
Every once in a while...you remember the girl
When you were a homeless angel...
that drove you wild
Strange and elusive.

This could have been great if not for the last 2 wretched lines:

I've been walking under rainbows...too long to tell
You keep walking down mean streets...
my street angel
I try to bring you in...out of the cold
But street angels live on the street...
And they always will