I dunno. I think jjim’s got it right. The song just has no redeeming qualities, IMO. “Cats in the Cradle” has a similar theme but is a superior song because it has lyrics that transcend 10th grade poetry class.
“Tears of Heaven” (I apologize for hacking its title previously) is a lovely, moody song. “Unbreak my Heart” is another. Both put me in a funk the second I hear the intro. And, gawd, I hate to admit it here in the Pit where arrows are flung so gleefully, but I also get in a funk when I hear the Titanic music. Whatever that instrument is that wails so plaintively makes me immediately melancholy. And then there’s “Edmund Fitzgerald…” Don’t even get me started on Edmund Fitzgerald or I’ll need to start popping Prozac.
So in conclusion, “Edmund Fitzgerald” is quality depressing music while “In the Living Years” and “Christmas Shoes” is dreck.
Well the song suggests he intervenes by steadying a trembling hand. If people pray for strength and are rewarded that also suggests he intervenes. So if the choices are he never intervenes or he intervenes all the time, which is it?