Sounds of December: The Killers' 'Boots' lead us to reflect, regret and recover

Reflection. Regret. Recovery.

They’re the themes of today’s entry in our musical advent calendar. “Boots” by The Killers gets me choked up every time I hear it. Every time.

The song starts with a clip from “It’s a Wonderful Life,” where George Bailey is at the end of his rope and asking for help before Clarence arrives to set him straight.

Our subject in "Boots" knows he’s made mistakes. We don’t know what he’s done. But he knows he needs to change and is comforted by thoughts of Christmases of his childhood.

“I close my eyes,
Think about the path I took.
Just when I think these times,
Have gotten the best of me.

I can see my mother in the kitchen.
My father on the floor,
Watching television.
It's a wonderful life.

Cinnamon candles burning.
Snowball fights outside.
Smile below each nose and above each chin.

Stomp my boots before I go back in.”

Then, like George Bailey, he asks for help.

“I wasted my wishes,
On Saturday nights.
Boy, what I would give,
For just one more.

I’d soften my heart, shock the world”

Then Christmas bells kick in, and singer Brandon Flowers pleads.

“Do you hear my voice?
Do you know my name?
Light my way,
Lift my head.
Light my way.”

That’s when I get choked up. I just got choked up typing it. Because we did get the lighted pathway. We’re celebrating his birth this month. He hears our voice and knows our name. His love is unconditional, his arms always open. He welcomes broken people.

It's not an uncommon theme for Christmas. From Ebeneezer Scrooge to Ed Asner's character in "The Gathering," we see broken people asking for help and getting it at Christmas. "The Gathering," by the way, is pretty much the best Christmas movie ever and I get choked up watching that, too. 

The "Boots" video is very moving. It was directed by Jared Hess, who directed “Napoleon Dynamite” and stars Brad Prowly, a New York street performed who goes by “Super Bad Brad.”

Prowly is homeless in the video, weeping as he looks at a crumpled photo of his estranged family. He appears in a church, looking for that lighted way. He sings on the street to raise money to get back home. While his children are decorating the Christmas tree, his wife opens the door, looking both hesitant and relieved before embracing him.

The Killers released a Christmas song annually as part of the (PRODUCT)RED campaign, with all proceeds going to charities fighting AIDS and supporting people inflicted with the disease. The others are good. "Boots" is by far my favorite.

It’s a beautiful song for a good cause.