Shelter from the Storm I think was meant to have a double meaning and having a double meaning show how similar the two subjects can be closely related.

I use to think this song was about love and how all the hardships a man can go through that a woman, warm and welcoming can take a man in and give him "shelter from the storm", a safe haven or home.

As I listen to it more this song is about being born, living, dying, and regret or sadness for that which was lost. "Her" being death and coming in into death relieves pain and suffering.

Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- The song starts with stating that long before my life time, out of nothing, I came to be.

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- If I get another chance at life/love I will do my best and not take life/love for granted in a hard world when everything is against you.

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- This verse makes a strong push for the song to be about love. I think this either means A) nothing needs to be said between two people who love each other, that everything up until now was incomplete "unresolved" but this was did and he's trying to describe the feeling of who ever is listening by saying, hey it's hard to describe this feeling, but imagine a place where it's always safe and warm. OR B) a man goes about his life knowing that death in an inevitable fate, that there's nothing he can do to change that. Every man has some things in life that he wishes he'd finished or changed or done differently and he's trying to imagine a place where all of that worry and angst is lifted off his shoulders...a place where it's always safe and warm.

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Basically this just repeats how it's a harsh world out there.

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Again, "she" can mean a woman/love with the flowers and bracelets symbolizing a wedding...or it can mean death, as in he's suddenly is confronted with death (dies) and the crown symbolizes the weight that is lifted off his shoulders.

Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, got my signals crossed
Just to think that it all began on a long-forgotten morn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Either the love/marriage has gone wrong and he and his wife are separated and the love started on a "long-forgotten morn"...or he's now dead, no the other side separated by a wall, he took life for granted, wish he would have done things differently, he started down the path of life long ago on "long-forgotten morn"

Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Deputy could mean God, one who watches over us and judges us. Preacher is prominent in love/wedding or death/funeral. Nothing else matters its the fate that he's dead and can't return to life or the love is lost and there's no repairing it. Anything he does now is "futile" his/their fate is sealed.

I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Basically he's saying that he's witnessed a lot through his life, experienced a lot. Again...he doesn't know why he's being asked if his fate's been sealed. As in the "question" being...if you could go back and do it differently, would you? He's saying, that's a hopeless question.

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- The have picked his body/soul for everything, he's reduced now to nothing, almost forgotten. He's tried bargaining for another chance at either life or love. He's even offered up his innocence as if his innocence is him saying...looking, I didn't know, but now I do.

Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm"

-- Foreign country can either mean death, done, void, nonexistent. Or...single, alone, lost without his love. There's a thin line between having life and losing it...or having love and losing it. Some day he will learn from his mistakes. He then wishes he could turn back time and do it again knowing what he knows now.