I know that this doesn't help much with the origins of Barges, but I was intrigued to find a source to add to this fascinating thread.

I was perusing the web for "Barges origins" and came across this thread:

http://ask.metafilter.com/242315/Out-of-my-window-looking-in-the-night-Barges-song-origin

and in it I found a link to a collected version of the verse and chorus from 1969 by a man named Clint Piney from Chicago: http://maxhunter.missouristate.edu/songinformation.aspx?ID=1346

There is an audio link on that page, however a further Google search of "Clint Piney" only comes up with references to this webpage.