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

Street angels aren't like anyone you know
They do what they want and they go where they go
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 once 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

---

WEBMISTRESS speculates:

This song has Lindsey's name written all over it. They called each other "angel" many times (see Ooh My Love, Goodbye Angel). Stevie starts the song commenting on how her lifestyle has been full of "rainbows" but Lindsey's seems to be full of struggles, full of "mean streets." She tries to help him with those struggles and "bring him in out of the cold" but he seems to revel in them, to not want to give them up (see Twisted). He's "not like anyone" else (a sentiment echoed in Thrown Down). The lines that refer to holding the "world in your hands" seem very reminiscent of Go Your Own Way's "I'd give you my world" - maybe this is a response to that. He may tell her he'd give her the world, but then he takes it back (here, she says "give it back", which is confusing, but I think she means "take it back.") She can't change him, can't convince him to join her in her world (by prioritizing her above his music, perhaps?), so he just "call[s] to her" from outside of it.

She describes herself as a "Charles Dickens character with your top hat and your scarf", which is dead on for Stevie's outfit for pretty much the entire late seventies! (Why does she use "You" all of the sudden? Who knows.) She addresses the priority problem when she says that instead of staying with her, he "went back to the music" and the adoration of the fans. Still, she misses him... does he ever think about her?

Finally, Stevie speaks about why she left Lindsey, and she does so with more clarity in this song than in any other, I believe. She says she "ended it all for the both of us", because the battle between her and his music was tearing them both apart. But, she didn't want to have to do it - it was hard on her also, which may explain why her songs always mourn the breakup even though she initiated it (i.e. Silver Springs). She says that Lindsey never realized that - he could never figure out "why everything turned around." She finally answers that question - she did it to preserve his sanity, and probably hers as well. Apparently it worked - he doesn't "hear voices anymore." A very revealing song.