Apparently another songwriter read the same story about John Doe #24 and independently wrote a song about him. Unlike Mary Chapin Carpenter, this one doesn't attempt to write from his point of view, and doesn't connect him to New Orleans. You can hear this song on Spotify. I found the liner notes online.

On December 5, 1993, the New York Times ran a story about the death of a man who was noteworthy primarily for his obscurity. I couldn't get it out of my head.... [Several lines and phrases in the song are taken directly from the article.]


JOHN DOE #24
Words by Dick Connette; music, traditional ("John Hardy" as recorded by Lead Belly)
As recorded by Last Forever on "Trainfare Home" (2015)

John Doe Twenty-Four took his secret to the grave.
His funeral was the best the state could give.
A woman asked if anyone had anything to say
Before they covered up the coffin; no one did.
No one did.

It was 1945 when he wandered into town.
He was livin' on the street; he was alone.
He was only in his teens and his fam'ly wasn't found,
So they picked him and put him in a home;
Picked him up and put him in a home.

He never spoke a word; he was deaf; he was blind.
No one knew his name, and what's more,
There were twenty-three just like him in the system at the time,
So they had to call him John Doe Twenty-Four,
Called him John Doe number Twenty-Four.

He must have had a life; you could see it on his face,
But what lived behind the silence no one knew.
For all the time and money they spent workin' on his case,
They were never really able to get through,
Never really able to get through.

Most of all he loved that harmonica he played,
And occasionally he'd grin from ear to ear.
He danced for Christmas parties and he pantomimed parades.
He suffered from a stroke and died last year,
Suffered from a stroke and died last year.

John Doe Twenty-Four took his secret to the grave.
His funeral was the best the state could give.
A woman asked if anyone had anything to say
Before they covered up the coffin; no one did.
No one did.

They say that when you shiver someone's walkin' on your grave.
Well, I don't know, but one thing's for sure:
The earth inherits all of us as living mem'ry fades
Into the silence over John Doe Twenty-Four.