BEEN IN THE STREETS TOO LONG

Been In the Streets Too Long was released in 1983, though it brings together recordings Annette made over the course of nearly a decade, beginning in 1974. It’s a heartbreaking work. The lyrics are raw, almost confessional, as if lifted from a private journal—marked by a vulnerability that feels both deliberate and necessary. Musically, the album is powerful in its simplicity—the arrangements leave room for emotion to lead, without ever stepping back themselves. It opens with the title track, a fragile piece that resembles a lullaby, meditating on the experience of being broken—financially, and by extension, emotionally. This song sets the emotional tone for the record: weary, searching, honest. Yet despite the heaviness, the album closes—at least in my reading—on a note of quiet resilience. No Winning, No Losing gestures toward acceptance, toward the idea that to love, and to learn how to love, is in itself a form of survival.

Listen to it here.

Photography by Frank Worth

Been In The Streets Too Long (1974)

Now I used up the toothpaste 2 days ago

And we've been living on rice and beans
I got too many holes in my jeans
And the landlord's been threatening to evict us, you know

It's all falling apart at the seams
And I've run out of dreams and schemes

And I'm wondering if it's weakness or am I strong
And I'm wondering if I'm right or I'm wrong
And I keep thinking nobody cares about truth of song

Cause I've been now in the streets too long

And my friends are all just as broke as me
And they allude to the poetry in being poor

It just keeps depressing me more and more

And they're coming tomorrow to off my G.&E.

You know they don't give you nothing for free

And I consider it an assault on my dignity

And I'm wondering if it's weakness or am I strong
And I'm wondering if I'm right or I'm wrong
And I keep thinking nobody cares about truth of song

Cause I've been now in the streets too long

And my kid's just informed me she's outgrown her shoes

And I can't give her any good news

***

So Hard, It Hurts! (1976)

Don't hurt me —

Feelings last

Too long and hard to see past

(And hard to come back from)

Pain:

Is just a name

There is no blame

In love's untrue domain

Who call it love to use

You, then refuse

On Tuesday

Snipers in the round

Who use their love

To shoot you down

Still you say:
"harder, harder"

until you feel pain!

I believe that

Love should nourish
Without compromising.

Don't you think

That love's inspiring

And energising?

And if you can't feel good

While loving

Then loving is no good

And not worth having!

Pleasure:

As release from pain

And not to preference

Pleasure from surrender

Of control

With no restrictions

Power

Is like money or like light

Its' flow

Becomes its' own reflection

A sniper's in the round

Closing in now

To shoot you down

Will you say:

"harder, deeper and harder"

until the last pain?

***

A Song to Separate (1974)

My Heart is breaking
And my body's aching
To be with you again

Don't you know I'm leaving
And my soul keeps grieving 
To lose my only friend

But there are times when we must do
What we are obligated to
And I'll remember what you said —
You love me

And I'll keep on hoping
That your love keeps growing
And that this is not an end

Though there is a distance
There'll be no resistance
When I come back home again

And if it's easy to let go
Because you do respect the flow
And you believe me and you know —
I love you

*** 

½ Broken (1971)

Everything I do is for you

And

Everything I am is for you

And

Everything I feels is for you

I only want your love above me

Everytime I think it's of you

And

Everytime I dream it's of you

And

Everytime I hope it's for you

I only want your love above me

Why do people cry

Why do feelings die

Why

Must I

Go on as tho I felt

Nothing

And why must I

Pretend
As tho I

Had the strength

To go on
½ broken

***

Safe Inside The Fantasy (1975)

My soul

Searches thru
Universes for you

But I can't say:

'I love you', out loud

Cause when I do

I might believe it too

And I can't 

Feel sure enough

To lose control

My body

Is burning, turning

Into you

And I won't say:

'I need you', out loud

This war within 

Could really weaken me

The flow with 

Life and love

Should fit me like a glove

At ease

The trees

Receive the sun

From no pretense

While I 

Conjure useless reasons

That don't make sense

My brain's 
Showing feature films

Of close-ups

Of only you

Which paint you

More ideal

Than true

It feels so safe

Inside the fantasy

And much too difficult

When you are real

***

Pillow-Lined Prison (1975)

You could be my only love

You could make feel above

You could make me do everything

    But I've made my own pillow-lined prison

I'd just want to be with you

Everything would feel too much

Nothing else would be quite as good

    And I've made my own pillow-lined prison

I might do it anyway

Life is just another day

It's the pleasure that really counts

In my carefully pillow-lined prison

With you

***

Both (1965)

Why is old ugly

And young beautiful?
Whit is life

A gift
We live ourselves

A solo flight

With our feet

Off the ground

And the darkness

Keeps circling around

Both my eyes

Permit just one

Clear event

And the stars

Are lined 
With fantasies

A summer song

Went away for the fall

And my heart 
Isn't beating at all

***

No Winning, No Losing (1975)

I want to try 

To love again

I think I know

How

To Love now

— I know all the things it isn’t —

There is no winning, no losing

In love — just loving.

I’d like to tell you

I can see your beauty

And it’s been hard

For me to see

Anyone’s beauty before

For a long time.

I love you consistently 

I love you touching me

I love to touch you

I love you to touch me 

At any depth or velocity

I love you unconditionally 

— I want to have and have not with you —

I appreciate

Dream-drifting 

And blissing out about you.

I like to anticipate

Hanging out in your

Arms, and with your thoughts.

I like to make love

Now, all the time, anytime

I’m so spaced . . .

And I don’t want

To wonder, anymore

If love is an excuse

To exchange identities!

I want to give without condition

I want to love without submission 

I want to be without permission

I want to live without suspicion 

Of motive

— And the only consistency

I’ll accept or expect is change —

I want your love to

Blow-my-mind behind the passion

But I want to be rational

I want to be smart.

I’d like to get hooked on 

Love, but be able to

Survive apart!

And love you

Into outness - into

No future no past

Lovers living 

Timelessly — no first no last

A spaceless love of

No evaluation — considered 

Without a choice

And see you when I’m up

Not when I’m up-tight 

And love you into

Oblivion with the sound

Of my voice

Which feeds your independence

And love you long and

Strong but not belong

To you.

And love you

Till my name

Has no significance . . .