What made Holden not so depressed anymore on his way to the record store

In chapter 16, Holden decides to walk to the record store to buy Phoebe a record entitled "Little Shirley Beans." As Holden is on his way to the record store, he notices a poor family walking along the sidewalk and listens as a little boy sings a song. Holden hears the boy singing, "If a body catch a body coming through the rye," while he walks on the street instead of the sidewalk. Holden also notices that the parents are not paying attention to their child as the boy happily sings while cars zoom past him on the street. Holden then mentions that the boy singing makes him feel better and less depressed about life. Holden enjoys the child in his natural element singing because it is a celebration of youth, which is something Holden has an affinity for and identifies with. The song the child is singing is also significant to the story and is brought up during a conversation between Holden and Phoebe, where Holden tells his sister that he wants to be a catcher in the rye protecting children from running off cliffs. Holden's comment to Phoebe metaphorically represents his motivation to protect children from entering adulthood and losing their innocence.