Bob Dylan - Hurricane

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 God
they 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 cell
but one time he could a been
The champion of the world

Three bodies lyin'
there does Patty see
And another man named Bello
movin' around mysteriously
I didn't do it' he says
and he throws up his hands
I was only robbin'
the register
I hope you understand
I saw them leavin'
he says and 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

Meanwhile
far 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' out
they 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 minute
boys this 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
Yes here's
the story of the Hurricane
The man the authorities
came to blame
For somethin' that
he never done
Put in a prison cell
but one time he could a been
The champion of the world

Four months later
the ghettos are in flame
Rubin's in South America
fightin' for his name
While Arthur Dexter
Bradley's still in the
robbery game
And the cops are puttin'
the screws to him lookin'
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 jail
be 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 work he'd say
and 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 circus
he 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 newspapers
they 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 cell
but one time he could a been
The champion of the world

Bob Dylan - Hurricane

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