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Duncan and Brady

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"Duncan and Brady"
Song
LanguageEnglish
Songwriter(s)Traditional

"Duncan and Brady" is a traditional murder ballad about the shooting of a policeman, Duncan, by a bartender, Brady. The song's lyrics stemmed from actual events, involving the shooting of James Brady in the Charles Starkes Saloon in St. Louis, Missouri. Harry Duncan was convicted of the murder, and later executed.[1]

Origins

On October 6, 1880, 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 staring the fight, which prompted the start of a gunfight. Brady was shot by an unknown man, supposedly by the bar's owner, Charles Starkes.[1] Harry Duncan claimed as such when he was arrested for Brady's murder; Starkes denied the claim.[1] Duncan was convicted and was sentenced to hang, but through several appeals, the case made its way to the Supreme Court.[1] 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.[1]

Lyrics

The song begins with Brady riding around in an electric car, with a "mean look in his eye", and that he wants to "shoot somebody just to see him die".[2] He walks into a bar, which Duncan is tending, arrests him, then shoots him.[2] However, Duncan then shoots Brady,

Brady, Brady carried a .45,
Said it would shoot half a mile,
Duncan had a .44
That what laid Mr. Brady so low.
Brady fell down on the barroom floor,
"Please Mr. Duncan don' shoot me no more."
Women all cryin, ain't it a shame,
Shot King Brady, goin' shoot him again.[2]

and Brady 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[2]

Women hear of the death of Brady, not Duncan, and all dress in red.[2]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e The Cabinet, The Origins of Duncan and Brady. thecabinet.com. Retrieved 12-28-10
  2. ^ a b c d e Lead Belly, Duncan and Brady. mudcat.org. Retrieved 12-28-10

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

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