Pistol shots ring out in the barroom nightEnter Patty Valentine from the upper hallShe sees a bartender in a pool of bloodCries out, "my God, they killed them all"
Here comes the story of the HurricaneThe man the authorities came to blameFor somethin' that he never donePut in a prison cell, but one time he coulda beenThe champion of the world
Three bodies lyin' there, does Patty seeAnd 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 copsAnd they arrive on the sceneWith their red lights flashin' in a hot New Jersey night
Meanwhile, far away in another part of townRubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' aroundNumber one contender for the middleweight crownHad no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the roadJust like the time before and the time before thatIn Paterson that's just the way things goIf you're black you might as well not show up on the street'Less you want to draw the heat
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the copsHim and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' aroundHe said "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweightsJumped into a white car with out-of-state plates"And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her headCop said "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"So they took him to the infirmaryAnd though this man could hardly seeThey told him he could identify the guilty men
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin inThey took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairsThe wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eyeSay "Why'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy"
Here's the story of the HurricaneThe man the authorities came to blameFor somethin' that he never donePut in a prison cell, but one time he coulda beenThe champion of the world
Four months later, the ghettos are in flameRubin's in South America, fightin' for his nameWhile Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery gameAnd 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 mighta 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"The cops said "A poor boy like you, could use this breakWe got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend BelloYou don't want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellowYou'll be doin' society a favorThat son of a bitch is brave and gettin' braverWe want to put his ass in stirWe want to pin this triple murder on himHe ain't no Gentleman Jim"
Rubin could take a man out with just one punchBut he never did like to talk about it all that much"It's my work" he'd say, "and I do it for payAnd when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way"
Up to some paradiseWhere the trout streams flow and the air is niceAnd ride a horse along a trailBut then they took him to the jailhouseWhere they try to turn a man into a mouse
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advanceThe trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chanceThe judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slumsTo the white folks who watched, he was a revolutionary bum
And for the black folks he was just a crazy niggerNo one doubted that he pulled the triggerAnd though they could not produce the gunThe D.A. said he was the one who did the deedAnd the all-white jury agreed
Rubin Carter was falsely triedThe crime was murder one, guess who testified?Bello and Bradley and they both baldly liedAnd the newspapers, they all went along for the ride
How can the life of such a manBe in the palm of some fool's hand?To see him obviously framedCouldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a landWhere justice is a game
Now all the criminals in their coats and their tiesAre free to drink martinis and watch the sun riseWhile Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cellAn innocent man in a living hell
Yes, that's the story of the HurricaneBut it won't be over 'til they clear his nameAnd give him back the time he's donePut in a prison cell, but one time he coulda beenThe champion of the world
Bob Dylan / Jacques Levy
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