What a great thread. For years I have listened to the song, read it to people a a poem, and spent a lot of time thinking about it. Now I have a clearer idea of what it's all about, not too far from what I had worked out.
The one line above all others I wish I had penned, for me, has to be
"On a quite street, where old ghosts meet."
I have never heard the song performed by anyone, good, bad, drunk, or whatever, when I didn't enjoy and look forward to the next line.
Keep up the brilliant threads and info.
mcpiper