Work: Charlie Dunn

Jerry Jeff Walker: Charlie Dunn

[purchase]

This would have been a great song for the Footwear theme, but I hadn’t stumbled upon SMM at that time. It fits equally well as tribute to an under-appreciated worker.

These days, people don’t think twice about their footwear. They just go to the nearest shoe store and get a new pair. But, especially for day labor-ers, good boots are the most important thing they put on each day. Here, Jerry Jeff pays homage to the lost art of the boot-maker. Charlie Dunn is portrayed as a humble, little man with a gift for making custom boots.

“Charlie’s been makin’ boots over there,
he says about 50 some-odd years.
Once you wear a pair of his hand-made boots,
you know, you’ll never wear a store-bought pair.
Charlie can tell what’s wrong with your feet,
just by feelin’ em with his hands.
He can take a look at the boots you wear,
and know a whole lot about the man.”

Here’s to the modern-day cobbler, the man behind every American Worker.