Hurricane-Bob Dylan

[00:07.69]Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night [00:18.70]Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall. [00:22.91]She sees the bartender in a pool of blood, [00:26.95]Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!" [00:30.55]Here comes the story of the Hurricane, [00:34.36]The man the authorities came to blame [00:37.92]For somethin' that he never done. [00:41.67]Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been [00:45.19]The champion of the world. [00:49.53] [00:50.62]Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see [01:01.63]And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously. [01:03.60]"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands [01:08.88]"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand. [01:11.28]I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops [01:15.80]"One of us had better call up the cops." [01:18.85]And so Patty calls the cops [01:21.75]And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin' [01:27.64]In the hot New Jersey night. [01:32.85] [01:34.14]Meanwhile, far away in another part of town [01:43.13]Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around. [01:46.81]Number one contender for the middleweight crown [01:50.30]Had no idea what kinda **** was about to go down [01:54.32]When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road [01:58.29]Just like the time before and the time before that. [02:01.13]In Paterson that's just the way things go. [02:04.76]If you're black you might as well not show up on the street [02:09.24]'Less you wanna draw the heat. [02:18.05]Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops. [02:24.38]Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around [02:28.05]He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like [02:30.55]middleweights [02:32.12]They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates." [02:35.53]And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head. [02:38.41]Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead" [02:42.54]So they took him to the infirmary [02:45.80]And though this man could hardly see [02:49.45]They told him that he could identify the guilty men. [03:01.86]Fourn the mornin' and they haul Rubin in, [03:05.38]Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs. [03:07.17]The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye [03:12.44]Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!" [03:16.56]Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane, [03:19.86]The man the authorities came to blame [03:23.51]For somethin' that he never done. [03:27.40]Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been [03:31.38]The champion of the world. [03:43.30]Four months later, the ghettos are in flame, [03:46.62]Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name [03:50.13]While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game [03:53.54]And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody [03:56.00]to blame. [03:57.64]"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?" [04:00.93]"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?" [04:04.46]"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?" [04:08.13]"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that [04:09.93]night?" [04:12.23]"Don't forget that you are white." [04:18.56]Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure." [04:27.27]Cops said, " A poor boy like you could use a break [04:29.75]We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend [04:33.25]Bello [04:34.58]Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow. [04:38.80]You'll be doin' society a favor. [04:41.98]That sonofa***** is brave and gettin' braver. [04:45.50]We want to put his ass in stir [04:47.02]We want to pin this triple murder on him [04:53.32]He ain't no Gentleman Jim." [04:59.05]Rubin could take a man out with just one punch [05:08.00]But he never did like to talk about it all that much. [05:11.11]It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay [05:15.20]And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way [05:19.07]Up to some paradise [05:22.20]Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice [05:25.58]And ride a horse along a trail. [05:28.87] [05:29.53]But then they took him to the jailhouse [05:32.93]Where they try to turn a man into a mouse. [05:42.02] [05:43.14]All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance [05:48.73]The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance. [05:52.17]The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums [05:55.73]To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum [05:59.74]And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger. [06:02.93]No one doubted that he pulled the trigger. [06:06.58]And though they could not produce the gun, [06:10.38]The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed [06:14.45]And the all-white jury agreed. [06:26.09]Rubin Carter was falsely tried. [06:29.78]The crime was murder "one," guess who testified? [06:32.10]Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied [06:36.90]And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride. [06:40.67]How can the life of such a man [06:43.73]Be in the palm of some fool's hand? [06:47.59]To see him obviously framed [06:51.30]Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land [06:55.85]Where justice is a game. [07:05.97]Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties [07:10.19]Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise [07:13.85]While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell [07:17.39]An innocent man in a living hell. [07:21.36]Yes, that's the story of the Hurricane, [07:24.65]But it won't be over till they clear his name [07:28.08]And give him back the time he's done. [07:31.38]Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been [07:35.98]The champion of the world.