Hello!
Can't remember specifically the first time I heard DDIO. Probably took a while to seep 8nto my consciousness.
Neil's songwriting style is not literal - that's why I love it. The lines you quote mean nothing by themselves and yet they evoke images and emotions. They are surreal and beautiful.
Would reccoreco everyone checks out "Tombstone" on the Crowded House album. The lines "Look at all the plans I made/falling down like scraps of paper" mean so much to me.