That is lyrical poetry! Thanks for bringing it up. 
I always heard it as “broken lullaby”, even before obtaining the album and seeing the liner notes. My high school girlfriend c. 1983 mentioned getting in trouble for singing along with “fucking alibi” on a church youth group trip. So that’s one other person who heard it that way.
I thought it was “rimmed up by a docent in the humble of the might”.
Always heard “broken lullaby.”
It’s a rock song–don’t think too hard about meaning.
I like Benjamin Orr’s singing those classic Cars hits.
Even after all the later posts, I still hear “perky letter”, or more accurately, “perking letter”. I don’t think I’ll ever hear it “right”.