The song is a reworked version of a December 1984 outtake from the Empire Burlesque sessions entitled "New Danville Girl".
The singer often interrupts his reminiscences of the mysterious "Brownsville Girl" to describe the plot of a western movie starring Gregory Peck that he saw once (but believes he 'sat through it twice').
The plot of the film, about a young upstart who shoots an aging gunslinger, and then is warned by the dying man that now he must watch his own back, sounds like 1950's The Gunfighter.
[3] Although Knocked Out Loaded received poor reviews upon release, "Brownsville Girl" is considered one of Dylan's best songs by some critics.
"[9] Gregory Peck himself quoted "Brownsville Girl" in a speech at the Kennedy Center Honors in 1997 when Dylan was being awarded The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize.
[15] Dylan has only performed the song live once, a partial version at a concert in Paso Robles, California on August 6, 1986.