Hurricane

And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
The man the authorities came to blame
In Paterson that's just the way things go
And when it's over just as soon go on my way"
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand"
We've got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
Remember that murder that happened in a bar
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
She sees a bartender in a pool of blood
And though they could not produce the gun
And ride a horse along the trail
He ain't no Gentleman Jim

Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
How can the life of such a man
And the all White jury agreed
Jumped into a white car without of state plates"
Don't forget that you are White
The cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
"I didn't do it," he says and he throws up his hands
For somethin' that he never done
Says, "Why'd you bring him in here for he ain't the guy"

Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him
The man the authorities came to blame
We want to pin this triple murder on him
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
To the White folks who watched, he was a revolutionary bum
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse

They told him, he could identify the guilty men
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure"
And another man named Bello movin' around mysteriously
An innocent man in a living hell
Number one contender for the middle-weight crown
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
They took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops

Just like the time before and the time before that
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride

And so Patty calls the cops
Here comes the story of the Hurricane

Be in the palm of some fool's hand?

He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middle-weights

One of us said, "Better call up the cops"
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around
For somethin' that he never done
So they took him to the infirmary and though this man could hardly see
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game

"It's my work", he'd say "And I do it for a pay

Three bodies lyin' there, does Patty see
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
Yes, that's the story of the Hurricane
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
Cries out, "My God, they killed them all"
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
In the hot New Jersey night
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
We want to put his ass in stir
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten foot cell
'Less you wanna draw the heat
The champion of the world
Remembered you said you saw the get away car

To see him obviously framed
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye

And give him back the time he's done
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed

Now, all the criminals in their coats and their ties
If you're Black you might as well not show up on the street

Four months later, the ghettos are in flame
You don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow"
You'll be doin' society a favor
Four in the mornin', and they haul Rubin in
Lookin' for somebody to blame
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town

You think you'd like to play ball with the law
And to the Black folks he was just a crazy nigger
Up to some paradise
But it won't be over till they clear his name
Here's the story of the Hurricane
But then they took him to the jail house

The crime was murder "One" guess who testified?
Are free to drink Martinis and watch the sun rise
The champion of the world
That son of a bitch is brave and gettin' braver

Think it might've been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance
"I saw them leavin'", he says and he stops
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
To live in a land where justice is a game
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance