The song and story is about a man who has gone through some depressing and difficult times and how he has buried those feelings. And although a great amount of time has passed, those feelings are nearer to your present state of mind than you might think. However, there are two problems with using these lines to describe this. One, the quote the way it is given in the song, although makes no sense to the story. If things appear closer than they are, it means that you are aware of how close the pain is but it, in reality, isn't really that close. And two, if you read the outside mirror of your car the correct phrase is 'objects in the rearview mirror may be closer than they appear' which would actually have made the song make sense.

No one can cry icicles.