Explain the appeal of "Christmas Shoes" song

Cafe Society
1

I heard this on the radio the other day and my mouth was agape for the duration of the song. I obviously don’t ‘get’ the song. I thought it was a terrible attempt at trying to make people cry, but it doesn’t seem to have any redeeming value to it.

My mind was captured by the drivel. My first reaction was I can’t beleive that someone would write a song explicitly to try to make people cry.

My second thought was that it would turn into some variation of Oliver Twist where the kid runs off with the shoes only to return them and keep the money. (I am far to cynical)

My third thought was that this doesn’t have anything to do with Christmas, it just happens to be at that time of year. How does this situation remind someone of what Christmas means? Should this not be a value that good people practice all year round? If it weren’t Christmas would the narrator still have helped out the dirt-poor boy?

My fourth thought was “Whaaaaa?” when this line finally registered: “And I want her to look beautiful if Mama meets Jesus tonight”

I am obviously far too callous to feel that this song has any merit other than an attempt to win a sad-song writing contest. Am I missing the point? What is the point that I am missing? Is this really a Christmas song? (If you substitue Valentine or Arbor Day for Christmas, it still has the same tone)

2

I guess the point is to remind people that there are others less fortunate then them. While we should be mindful of this at all times, most people aren’t, and Christmas is when their thoughts generally turn to the plight of others. Hence it’s a Christmas song, not just a song about a poor little kid some other time of the year - people are more receptive to the theme this time of year.

Though I’m not a country fan I don’t hate the song, but it’s not nearly as effective at tugging the heart strings as Toby Keith’s “Santa I’m Right Here.”