Duncan and Brady

Lyrics to the song, including the main characters Duncan and Brady, originated from a barroom shooting in St. Louis, Missouri. On October 6, 1890,[5] several police officers, including James Brady, arrived at the Charles Starkes Saloon in downtown St. Louis, where a bar fight was taking place. The officers tried to arrest patrons of the bar suspected of starting the fight, which prompted a gunfight. Brady was shot by an unknown man, supposedly by the bar's owner, Charles Starkes.[4] Harry Duncan claimed such when he was arrested for Brady's murder; Starkes denied the claim.[4] Duncan was convicted and was sentenced to hang, but through several appeals, the case made its way to the Supreme Court.[4] However, this appeal was denied, and Duncan was hanged on July 27, 1894. It was rumored that Charles Starkes later confessed to the murder on his deathbed.[4]

However, a Mrs. Tom Barrett (or Barret), a resident of Marlin, Texas, wrote to folklorist Dorothy Scarborough about the song's lyrics and origins. She identified Waco as the scene of the shooting, although she did not specify whether or not it occurred in a bar.[2] The song may bear a close relation to the tune of the traditional Negro ballad "Bad Man Ballad".[6]

"Duncan and Brady" is a typical "bad man" murder ballad, such as "Frankie and Johnny" or "Stagger Lee".[2] The song begins with Brady, a policeman, riding around in an electric car, with a "mean look in his eye", looking to "shoot somebody just to see him die".[1] He walks into a bar, which Duncan is tending, and arrests him.[1] Duncan then shoots Brady, and Brady then dies. However, in the next verse, Brady is told that he "knew he done wrong", because he was,

Walkin' in the room when the game was goin' on

Knockin down windows, breakin' down the door[1]

Women hear of the death of Brady and all dress in red.[1] In a second variation recorded by Lead Belly, there is also mention of Brady's wife, who expects to get a pension from his death.[7]

It's interesting to note that even though the detailed news article and lyrics from Leadbelly and others identify Brady as the policeman and Duncan as the civilian, Wilmer Watts who first recorded the song places the star on Duncan's chest:

Brady was a worker on the telephone wire

Long come Duncan with a shining star[8]

Wilmer Watts was born and lived in North Carolina [9] and only recorded for Paramount in Chicago in 1929. The Duncan and Brady incident happened in 1890. Therefore, it is likely Watts heard the story or the song after it had passed through many singers.

• Lyrics of Bob Dylan's and Lead Belly's versions