Waits cites as the origin of this song a news article about two kids in New Orleans who “were involved in a shooting.”

The song itself originally appeared on Dead Man Walking: Music From And Inspired By The Motion Picture but later on Waits’ own Orphans collection. As for the article - that appears to be “Children Strike Fear Into Grown-Up Hearts,” by Rick Bragg in The New York Times in December 1994.

Now one interesting thing about this article (if it is indeed the one that inspired “Troy”) is that in order for Waits to reach the story of Nick and Troy Mason from New Orleans, Waits had to read through or over quotes like “I remember when we had flowers in St. Thomas,” and “You can’t go out now to tend flowers. I’m afraid. I’m afraid of the young ones.” Already that stuff! And Waits didn’t even use it.

But a little more about little Troy and Nick. Get this: Troy was “shot dead in March,” as advertised, outside of New Orleans’ BW Cooper Housing Project on Thalia Street. And indeed their mother stipulates that “After that happened…was when Nicholas went bad.” Again, as advertised.

Well, Mrs. Mason is underselling it, friends. Hard. Lil’ Nicholas Mason went bad, as it were, by “murdering a man who, the police said, came to the projects to buy drugs.” Oh! Vigilantism, maybe - fighting the good fight against the element that perhaps was responsible for his brother’s death. Oh also-in-the-previous-year-he-was-charged-with-13-other-crimes-including-assaults-plural-armed-robberies-plural-and-attempted-murder.

MAPPING IT

Google sez the official address of the Cooper projects is 3416 Earhart Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70125. But the Times article puts Nicholas’ murder charge at Thalia, so this one is manually-placed a little up the street from 3416 Earhart.

HEARING IT