How 'The Christmas Shoes' Became A No. 1 Radio Hit And Polarizing Holiday Earworm

TUSCALOOSA, AL — Unless you're Ebenezer Scrooge, the Grinch or have lived under a rock for the last two decades, chances are you've heard this one:

"Sir, I wanna buy these shoes, for my Mama please. It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size ... "

Love it or loathe it, "The Christmas Shoes" by contemporary Christian band NewSong occupies rarified air in the music industry as one of only a handful of songs to inspire a long list of spin-off media.

For context, think "Ode to Billie Joe" by Bobbie Gentry, "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers or the Tom T. Hall classic "Harper Valley PTA" performed by Jeannie C. Riley — heartfelt ballads that transcended typical commercial success to take on lives of their own, spawning made-for-TV movies, merchandise and all the other superficial trappings.

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And as it just so happens, one of the co-writers and co-producers of "The Christmas Shoes" happens to be a face — née voice — that many of you will know well: Isaiah "DC" Daniel, the co-host of the beloved Steve & DC Morning Show on 95.3 The Bear.

A dear friend and longtime supporter of Tuscaloosa Patch, DC graciously spared time out of his busy schedule during the holiday season to tell the complicated origin story of one of the few modern Christmas tunes to achieve immortality in the lexicon of holiday earworms.

Taking The Good With The Bad

It should go without saying that just about anything that achieves an unprecedented level of success will have its detractors.

DC, ever the good sport, takes the criticism of the song he co-wrote with Leonard Ahlstrom and Eddie Carswell in stride and with his infectious sense of humor.

And after all, what should DC care? Do you have a Gold record hanging on your wall or a song that spent a week at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart?

Didn't think so.

Still, the polarizing ballad garnered critical, yet admittedly hilarious, mention in a Patton Oswalt stand-up bit and was even panned as "The Worst Christmas Song Ever" by the progressive magazine Jezebel.

"This song is a zit on the nape of Christmas's neck," wrote Jezebel's Erin Gloria Ryan in 2011 after an online poll saw the tune receive the most votes. "It is to the holidays what bloody nipples are to running a marathon."

Conversely, the song has nearly 11 million listens just on the streaming service Spotify as of the publication of this story and remains an essential staple for round-the-clock Christmas radio in most parts of the country. More than two decades after it was written, churches still find ways to incorporate the song and its message into their holiday observances.

All criticism and praise aside, the song's appeal is undeniable.

"On the negative hand, yeah, some people make fun of it," DC told Patch in an interview. "But on the other side, I really have, through the years, gotten letters and messages on Facebook from other countries that were written in broken English, of people telling me a story about a loved one that had passed away at Christmas, which really was what it was all about — just knowing that that's an awful time to lose someone because that holiday is always going to be marked by that loss."

For those unfamiliar with the song, it opens with a soft piano, an acoustic guitar and chimes to presumably simulate snowfall. The singer's gravelly voice is reminiscent of Alabama's Randy Owen and drips with emotion from start to finish.

The narrator of the song isn't "really in the Christmas mood" as he stands in the checkout line finishing his last-minute shopping, when he spots a pacing little boy described like Charles Schulz's Pigpen — "his clothes were worn and old ... he was dirty from head to toe."

The unaccompanied child is clutching a pair of nondescript shoes and explains to the cashier that the shoes are his Mama's size. The little boy then urges the cashier to hurry up because his unseen father told the child his terminally-ill mother was about to die. The anxious child then tells the surely befuddled cashier that he wants his Mama to look beautiful if she "meets Jesus tonight."

To Hell with literary criticism — if you made it that far into the song, chances are you're at least feeling something, right?

But after the Dickensian cashier informs the child that his pennies don't equal out to enough for the shoes, the narrator is overcome with the Christmas spirit and throws his money down to pay for the shoes. The narrator then watches the excitable boy run out of the store eager to present the shoes to his dying Mama.

Schematics don't matter. In fact, none of the details do.

Again, love it or hate it, the overall message grabs the basic human empathy of most by the throat.

What's more, this reporter had a difficult time recollecting any other late-20th or 21st century Christmas song — apart from Mariah Carey's mega-hit "All I Want For Christmas" — that has captured the level of staying power and multiplicity of "The Christmas Shoes."

"I had a radio consultant guy that studies all these Christmas songs tell me that of all the Christmas songs out there, 'The Christmas Shoes' is one of the only ones in the last 30 years that has cut through," DC said. "Mariah and 'Christmas Shoes' are pretty much the only two that really have stuck around or cut through from Bing Crosby and the traditional stuff — what you think of as Christmas music. So I'm proud of that. It has really been a neat thing overall. But no, the negative doesn't outweigh the positive."

Penning A Hit

The son of a Nashville session musician father and backup singer/songwriter mother, DC has music in his DNA. When asked about the genesis of "The Christmas Shoes" and the process of writing a No. 1 hit, he explained a basic formula.

"I think early on in doing this, I really got inspired by some movie makers that I would hear talk about what makes a great movie and hearing movie makers say it's a mix of everything," he said. "Some of your favorite movies of all time probably have that mix of comedy and heart-wrenching drama. So, to a certain extent, I've tried to look at ['The Steve & DC Morning Show'] in that same way. We're going to have fun a large percentage of the time, but that doesn't mean that we won't have moments where we do talk about serious stuff."

While the resurgence of the Steve & DC Show was met with immediate adulation when it was resurrected by Townsquare Media in October 2021, it was his radio work in the 1990s with Steve Shannon in St. Louis where the origins of the song can be traced, several years before the song made it to the airwaves.

DC explained that the substance of the song was inspired by a similar story published in the popular "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series — a story Steve & DC would read on the air.

The original story was written by Helga Schmidt, submitted by Kelly Kaman and entitled “Golden Shoes for Jesus."

Vice President of Marketing & Special Projects for Chicken Soup for the Soul Maureen Peltier told Patch the story originally appeared in "Chicken Soup for the Christian Soul" in 1997. A native of Kansas, Schmidt was also cited in a 2003 article published by The Christian Century Foundation referring to her as the originator of the story.

As the tale goes, it was in Newton, Kansas in the 1980s when Schmidt stood in line while Christmas shopping when she noticed a young boy and his sister ahead of her hoping to buy a pair of gold-colored women's shoes. The children were reportedly $3 short, which prompted Schmidt to cover the difference. It was only after the fact that the writer learned the children were buying the shoes for their dying mother.

"I actually sent that story to one of the other co-writers and had him look it over and then we would get on the phone because he was in Atlanta," he said. "I was in St. Louis at that time, and so we would do most of our brainstorming on the song over the telephone."

DC recalled when the guys from NewSong would play shows in St. Louis and then spend time with the syndicated radio host. The year was 1997 and after one show in particular, DC and some of the band members were sitting in DC's Mercedes trying to come up with ideas for the song.

Things then slowly began to take shape.

"It was a good three to four years of us going back and forth," he explained. "And I tell you, at first, nobody really believed in it. I was the only one that believed in it at first and [the band] would admit that. They just didn't feel like there was anything there."

The initial problem, DC said, was formulating the first verse, which resulted in the song basically being written backwards.

When asked about his individual fingerprints on the song itself, this is where the songwriters began to gather momentum in fleshing out the lyrics. When DC wrote down the bridge of the song, the group knew they were on to something special.

"I knew I'd caught a glimpse of heaven's love

As he thanked me and ran out

I knew that God had sent that little boy

To remind me just what Christmas is all about."

"Of all the things other than the idea and the name of the song, the bridge is probably my biggest contribution to it, because that's what we sat there in my car trying to come up with," DC recalled.

DC then thought back to that moment and recalled being struck with an idea for the ending. This decision would prove one of the more polarizing aspects of the song, as a children's choir begins to sing the chorus to round out the song with a crescendo of voices.

In unison, the children sing: "Sir, I want to buy these shoes for my Mama, please. It's Christmas Eve and these shoes are just her size ... "

"That came out of nowhere to me and, at first, they weren't sure if it would sound cheesy or sound like we're trying to manipulate heartstrings," he said of the children's choir. "But they did ultimately agree with it and then, honest to God, of everybody I've talked to since, especially women, love that part at the end with the kids coming in."

The young singers were actually an Atlanta-based children's choir that came from a church that one of the band members attended, in addition to the one little boy performing a solo of the chorus as the song's tear-inducing finale.

The composition of the song, however, along with DC's artistic contributions, are only a small part of the story.

A Song For The Masses

Once the writing and recording of a rough first draft of the song was complete, DC was called in by members of the band to give it an initial listen.

"It wasn't completely done, but it was pretty close," he explained. "And I remember telling them don't mess with it or don't do a lot more to it, because I just really felt like it was strong the way that it was. And so really what you hear on the album was pretty close to the first draft of what we did."

But there was a slight problem. NewSong had already finished its upcoming album that would become a massive crossover success — 2000's "The Sheltering Tree" — and here they were with a Christmas song that didn't fit any sort of theme with the record.

"We kept going round and round about what to do," DC said. "This isn't a Christmas album. They were releasing just one of their normal records. But it was the fall and it was coming out in October, so I suggested making the song a Christmas bonus track. Since it's fall, I thought maybe we can get away with that."

While DC's intuition would ultimately prove correct and lead to the most successful period in the band's history, the executives at the now-defunct Benson Records — a subset of Sony Music Entertainment — did not share the radio host's optimism.

"They hated the idea," he said. "They were getting nowhere with their record company and they flew me to Atlanta to try and convince the record guys that, hey, this will be a hit."

DC was then tasked with convincing two of the three record executives to support the idea of adding the song to the upcoming album, with the agreed-upon compromise being that the song would indeed be featured as a Christmas bonus track at the end of the album.

"I told them you don't have to promote it or do anything else, just put it on as a bonus track," he said. "And they finally agreed to that. So, then it gets released and I'm telling you, it was crazy how quickly it went to No. 1 ... in just three weeks."

Despite the song's obvious appeal to both Christian and secular audiences, DC also credited his connections in the radio industry with launching the song into the stratosphere.

For instance, one of his good friends at the time — the late radio icon Kid Kraddick — was at the popular top-40 station KHKS 106.1 Kiss-FM in Dallas when the song first made its way to the airwaves.

"I called [Kraddick] — he and I had been friends since we were literal kids and had known each other forever," DC recalled. "And I asked him to give it a chance. He liked it from the beginning and said he would play it. That was huge because his show was so popular and then that actually got the song its start."

Kraddick died in 2013 from heart issues at the age of 53.

But it was Kraddick taking a chance on a friend's song that would truly make the difference, as "The Christmas Shoes" would then snag the attention of broadcasting legend Scott Shannon at WPLG in New York City — a station considered by many to be the leading promoter of Christmas music during the holidays.

"For them to start playing it, it got a lot of attention," DC said. "I really couldn't believe it was happening that fast."

In the days that followed its debut in the Big Apple, the momentum of the song's popularity became impossible to ignore. DC then reflected back to being on the road with his longtime radio partner Steve Shannon visiting stations that carried the duo's syndicated morning show.

During their travels, DC received a call out of the blue from Benson Records and was floored by what he was told.

"He said, 'you're not going to believe this, but when the chart comes out this week, 'Christmas Shoes' is going to be the most-added song in America," he said. "I thought there's no way, it's got to be a misprint and I didn't believe it. Even though we had Dallas and that station in New York on it, I just didn't believe it."

Despite his initial doubts, however, the record company faxed DC a copy of the chart information to prove it. Two weeks later, the song was sitting pretty at No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart.

"When it hit number one and the record started to sell, the record label fired that guy that was totally opposed to it, by the way," DC said with a laugh.

A Life Of Its Own

As previously mentioned, "The Christmas Shoes" song itself is only a part of the story, with the simple tune going on to inspire additional content ranging from a full-length Christmas album to several books and a feature film starring Rob Lowe.

In 2002, Christian author Donna VanLiere — the wife of NewSong's manager — wrote a novella based off the song's lyrics. On her author website, she describes the fictional retelling as "a universal story of the deeper meaning of serendipity, a tale of our shared humanity, and of how a power greater than ourselves can shape, and even save, our lives."

The book ultimately inspired the first in a series of three movies, with 2002's "The Christmas Shoes" that was broadcast on CBS. This film was followed by 2005's "The Christmas Blessing" and "The Christmas Hope" in 2009.

Filming of the first movie, which features quick cameos by members of NewSong and DC, was done in Nova Scotia and DC had high praise for Lowe following the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"I mean it, [Lowe] was very nice to us," he said. "Some people say that he's not the nicest guy. Well, he was really nice to us all. That was really, really neat. They also actually have the band in the movie, in the scene where they're singing Christmas carols outside their house. I'm in that scene, too, but it's really fast, so you have to really look quickly to see me there."

Other brushes with celebrities included DC being invited to attend the Grammy Awards with the band, where he was seated beside none other than actor Michael J. Fox and his wife.

The 15 minutes of fame was certainly an added bonus for DC, but in discussing the song with Tuscaloosa Patch during the holiday season, he reflected on the message he wanted the public to take away from the lyrics. This comes at a time of runaway inflation, a bloody war in Europe, a resurgence in the COVID-19 pandemic and a crippling sense of dread for many across the globe.

"When we're facing stuff like this, we do have to remember the little things that are really important and the things that you can't put a price tag on," he said. "I'm praying every night that 2023 is better than what we've faced in the last couple of years. And at some point, it's got to turn around."

DC told Patch he dabbled in songwriting after his big hit and admitted that he still listens to "The Christmas Shoes" whenever it comes on the radio — pondering the intricacies of the song through a critical lens in considering what could have been done differently.

"The only reason I do is because I'm still nit-picky about what if we had done this or that?" he said. "That's the only reason I can think that I would listen all the way through. It just came on recently, I think on a competitor station."

In reiterating the overall message of the song more than two decades after its debut, DC reflected on his belief that the true meaning of Christmas — rooted in the ideals of love, charity and compassion — are too easily lost in the chaotic shuffle of unrealistic expectations and commercialization.

Still, he holds on to one thing — hope.

"I do think that Christmas is meant to be something bigger than that," he said. "So any message that gets through to people or helps somebody that's losing someone at this time of year. That's what I want, to give people hope. I really do believe that hope changes everything."

Have a news tip or suggestion on how I can improve Tuscaloosa Patch? Maybe you're interested in having your business become one of the latest sponsors for Tuscaloosa Patch? Email all inquiries to me at ryan.phillips@patch.com.