After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasing the album Buckingham Nicks to little success, Nicks joined Fleetwood Mac in 1975, helping the band to become one of the best-selling music acts of all time with over 120 million records sold worldwide. Rumours, the band's second album with Nicks, became one of the best-selling albums worldwide, being certified 20× platinum in the US.[2]
In 1981, while remaining a member of Fleetwood Mac, Nicks began her solo career, releasing the studio album Bella Donna, which topped the Billboard 200 and has reached multiplatinum status.[3] She has released eight studio solo albums and seven studio albums with Fleetwood Mac, selling a certified total of 65 million copies in the US alone.[2]
After the release of her first solo album, Rolling Stone named her the "Reigning Queen of Rock and Roll".[4] Nicks was named one of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time[5] and one of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time[6] by Rolling Stone. Her Fleetwood Mac songs "Landslide", "Rhiannon", and "Dreams", with the last being the band's only number one hit in the US, together with her solo hit "Edge of Seventeen", have all been included in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.[7] She is the first woman to have been inducted twice into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: first as a member of Fleetwood Mac in 1998 and then as a solo artist in 2019.[8]
Nicks has garnered eight Grammy Award[9] nominations and two American Music Award nominations as a solo artist. She has won numerous awards with Fleetwood Mac, including a Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1978 for Rumours.
The albums Fleetwood Mac, Rumours, and Bella Donna have been included in the "Greatest of All Time Billboard 200 Albums" chart by Billboard.[10] Furthermore, Rumours was rated the seventh-greatest album of all time in Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[11] as well as the fourth-greatest album by female acts.[12]
Street Angel
Stevie Nicks Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
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
Street angels aren't like anyone you know
They may tell you
That you hold the world in your hands
But they always give it back
They always give it back
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
I can't help but wonder if
Every one in a while you remember the girl
When you were a homeless angel
That drove you wild
Strange and elusive
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
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
The song “Street Angel” by Stevie Nicks is a heartfelt ballad about two lovers who are unable to bridge the gap between their worlds. Nicks uses the motif of rainbows to contrast the stark street life and the beauty of an untouched world. She sings that she has been walking under rainbows too long to tell, symbolizing that she has had too much beauty in her life to understand the hardship faced by her lover. The lover, or the “street angel,” is a symbol of the homeless population that roams the streets. Nicks tries to bring her lover in from the cold, but the street angel is unable to leave their life on the streets, and the couple is unable to be together.
The song paints a portrait of the street angel who is unique and does what they want. They may tell you that you hold the world in your hands, but they always give it back. Nicks asks if the street angel remembers the girl that drove them wild when they were both lost and homeless. She acknowledges the love between the two of them but recognizes that it’s not enough to bridge their worlds. The final verse takes a darker turn as Nicks reveals that she has “ended it all for the both of us” and admits that she has “fallen down the stairs a broken rag doll.” Nicks sees this as a way to make a clean break from her lover, who she knows will not come looking for her.
Line by Line Meaning
I've been walking under rainbows too long to tell
I've been experiencing happiness and good times for so long that I don't even remember how long it's been
You keep walking down mean streets
You are used to living a difficult life on the streets
My street angel
Despite your difficult life, I see the good in you and consider you my angel
I try to bring you in out of the cold
I want to help you and offer you warmth and comfort
But street angels live on the street
However, street angels are not interested in leaving their street life behind and will always choose to live there
And they always will
They will never change their ways
Street angels aren't like anyone you know
Street angels have a unique and unconventional lifestyle that is hard to understand
They do what they want and they go where they go
Street angels are free-spirited and follow their own path
They may tell you
Street angels might give you advice
That you hold the world in your hands
They might make you feel like you have control over your life
But they always give it back
However, they don't stick around to see it through
No amount of crying changes your mind
You are stubborn and won't change your ways even if I cry and plead with you
No amount of praying brings you inside
I can't change you through prayer either
I know that you love me
Despite your lifestyle, I know that you care for me
And that you always will
I know that your affection for me will never change
You just stand outside and call to me
You want to be near me, but you won't leave the streets to do so
My sweet street angel
Despite your unconventional lifestyle, I still see the good in you and consider you my sweet angel
A Charles Dickens character,
You remind me of a character from a Charles Dickens novel
With your top hat and your scarf
You have a distinctive, old-fashioned style
When you pull me through the rainbow
When you bring me along for your wild adventures
I thought you'd stop
I thought at some point you would want to settle down and leave the streets behind
But you didn't you turned around
However, you chose to keep living your unconventional life
You went back to the children and your music
You chose to go back to your street life and the things that make you happy
And the people that you love
You have strong relationships with the people in your street life
I can't help but wonder if
I can't help but think about
Every one in a while you remember the girl
If you ever think about me and the life we could have had together
When you were a homeless angel
Back when you were living on the streets without any possessions
That drove you wild
If the idea of being with me was exciting and thrilling to you
Strange and elusive
I remain a mystery to you, someone who is hard to understand
So I ended it all for the both of us
I made a drastic decision to end our relationship for our own good
I fell down the stairs a broken rag doll
I had a terrible accident and am now severely injured
But you never knew you just thought I went away
You never found out what really happened to me and assumed I left you
With nothing more to hope for
With no future prospects of me coming back or of us being together
But you don't hear voices anymore
You have moved on and no longer listen to the voices that used to call out to you on the streets
No my sweet street angel
You are still my sweet angel, even though we can never be together again
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Joanne Utterback
When my ceiling fell in while I was battling cancer...I had this song I was listening while I walked down main St. of Dayton Beach, FL & they use to call me street Angel...how awesome this song is and this helped me with battling not only cancer but being homeless. Thank you so much for this song. Angel U
Goldie Belle
Bless you sweet street angel❤️💖❣️
Carlton Shaw
Love this song takes me back to another time
Isadora Rae- McLean
Beautiful song!... We can't forget the homeless or the Gypsy souls!
Robert Pink
Street Angel is one of my favourite songs from the Street Angel album along with Love Is Like A River and Rose Garden. This song is about homeless children living on the streets, it gives a very powerful message. It doesn't work listening to this song on an iPod you need to listen to it on the CD on a good quality Hi Fi to feel it's full effect.
Brooke Boatwright
My dad used to play this in the car for me on the way to school
John lonewolfe
They don't always give it back!
jessica hising
This is my mom's song to me
Power G
I love the guitars of this record
Daniel Belardino
Power G Mee too! Such a GREAT ALBUM!😀🎸🎸💖👍🌙🎶🎶🎶