The phrase "the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune" in "Mind Gardens" comes from Shakespeare's
Hamlet. The title character asks himself, "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer / The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune / Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, / And by opposing end them." (III.i.65-68)
The particular alliteration of "killin' cold" (the hard K sound) gives a sense of the piercing nature of the cold.
The "walls all down" in "I tore the walls all down" is sung to a descending phrase (E D C#), so there's a musical representation of the walls' coming down.
