Original Lyrics written by Bob Dylan and
Jacques Levy. Were submitted to CBS but
parts were considered to controversial.)
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall.
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Cries out"My Godthey killed them all!"
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin that he never done.
Put in a prison cellbut one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Three bodies lyin there does Patty see
And another man named Bellomovin around mysteriously.
"I didn t do it" he saysand he throws up his hands
"I was only robbin the registerI hope you understand.
I saw them leavin " he saysand he stops
"One of us had better call up the cops."
And so Patty calls the cops
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin
In the hot New Jersey night.
Meanwhilefar away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin around.
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that s just the way things go.
If you re black you might as well not show up on the street
Less you wanna draw the heat.
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops.
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin around
He said"I saw two men runnin outthey looked like middleweights
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates."
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head.
Cop said"Wait a minuteboysthis one s not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men.
Four in the mornin and they haul Rubin in
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs.
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin eye
Says"Wha d you bring him in here for? He ain t the guy!"
Yeshere s the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For somethin that he never done.
Put in a prison cellbut one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Four months laterthe ghettos are in flame
Rubin s in South Americafightin for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley s still in the robbery game
And the cops are puttin the screws to himlookin for somebody to blame.
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you d like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin that night?"
"Don t forget that you are white."
Arthur Dexter Bradley said"I m really not sure."
Cops said"A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and we re talkin to your friend Bello
Now you don t wanta have to go back to jailbe a nice fellow.
You ll be doin society a favor.
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin braver.
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain t no Gentleman Jim."
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much.
It s my workhe d sayand I do it for pay
And when it s over I d just as soon go on my way
Up to some paradise
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
And ride a horse along a trail.
But then they took him to the jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse.
All of Rubin s cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circushe never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin s witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger.
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.
Rubin Carter was falsely tried.
The crime was murder "one" guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapersthey all went along for the ride.
How can the life of such a man
Be in the palm of some fool s hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game.
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell.
That s the story of the Hurricane
But it won t be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time he s done.
Put in a prison cellbut one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.
Copyright © 1975 Ram s Horn Music
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