Kat, I don't think it's "over"-analyzing to ask what a song means and try to figure out the answer.

The answer in this case, I suppose, is in Steve's introductory remarks on the page he linked to. There he mentions seeing those images of world events flow by on TV screens in a restaurant while unrelated piped-in music played, and he noted the contrast. Now, if he had worked that into his song, it would have been powerful imagery that would have tied all the other (seemingly disconnected) images together.

But when the introduction is three times as long as the song, something is the matter with the song. A song should stand on its own without liner notes or pre-emptive stage patter.