Intro: Am F Am FAm F Pistol shots ring out in the bar room nightAm F Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hallAm F She sees the bartender in a pool of bloodAm F Cries out "My God they killed them all!"C F Here comes the story of the Hurricane,C F The man the authorities came to blameDm C For something that he never doneDm C Put in a prison cell but one timeEm Am F C G Am F Am F He could have been the champion of the worldAm F Three bodied lying there does Patty seeAm F And another man named Bello moving mysteriouslyAm F "I didn't do it" he says, and he throws up his handsAm F "I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understandC F I saw them leavin'," he says and he stopsC F One of us had better call the copsDm C So Patty calls the copsDm C And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin' Em Am F c G Am F Am F In the hot New Jersey nightAm F Meanwhile somewhere in another part of townAm F Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving aroundAm F Number one contender for the middleweight crownAm F Had no idea what kind of shit was about to go downC F When a cop pulled him over on the side of the roadC F Just like the time before and the time before thatDm C In Paterson that just the ways things goDm C If you black you might as well not show up on the streetsEm Am F C G Am F Am F Less you wanna draw the heatAm F Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the copsAm F Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' aroundAm F He said "I saw two men runnin out, they looked like middle-weightsAm F They jumped into a white car with out of state plates"C F And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her headC F Cop said "Wait a minute boys, this one's not dead"Continues after the adDm C So they took him to the infirmaryDm C And although this man could hardly seeEm Am F C G Am F Am F They told him that he could identify the guilty menAm F Four in the morning and they haul Rubin inAm F Take him to the hospital and bring him upstairsAm F The wounded man looks up though his one dying eyeAm F Says "why'd you bring him here for? He ain't the guy!"C F Yes, here the story of the HurricaneC F The man the authorities came to blameDm C For something that he never doneDm C Put in a prison cell but one time he could've beenEm Am F C G Am F Am F The champion of the worldAm F Four months later the ghetto's in flameAm F Rubin's in South America fightin' for his nameAm F While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery gameAm F And the cops are puttin' the screw to him looking for somebody to blameC F "Remember that murder that happened in a bar?"C F "Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"Dm C "You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"Dm C "Think it might have been that fighter that you saw running that night?"Em Am F C G Am F Am F "Don't forget that you are white"Am F Arthur Dexter Bradley said "I'm really not sure"Am F Cops said "A poor boy like you could really use a breakAm F We got you for the motel job and were talking to your friend BelloAm F Now you don't want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellowC F You'll be doin' society a favorC F That son of a bitch is brave and getting braverDm C We want to put his ass in the stirDm C We want to pin this trip murder on himEm Am F C G Am F Am F He ain't no Gentleman Jim"Am F Rubin could take a man out with just one punchAm F He never did like to talk about it all that muchAm F It's my work he'd say, I do it for payAm F And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my wayC F Up to some paradiseC F Where the trout streams flow and the air is niceDm C And ride a horse along a trailDm C But then they took him to the jail houseEm Am F C G Am F Am F Where they try to make a man into a mouseAm F All of Rubin's card were marked in advanceAm F The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chanceAm F The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slumsAm F To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bumC F but to the black folks he was a crazy niggerC F No one doubted that he pulled the triggerDm C And though they could not produce the gunDm C The D.A. said he was the one who did the deedEm Am F C G Am F Am F And the all-white jury agreedAm F Rubin Carter was falsely triedAm F The crime was murder "one", guess who testified?Am F Bello and Bradley and the both badly liedAm F And the newspapers all went along for the rideC F How can the life of such a manC F Be in the palm of some fool's hand?Dm C To see him obviously framedDm C Couldn't help but be ashamed to live in a landEm Am F C G Am F Am F Where justice is a gameAm F Now all the criminal in their coats and their tiesAm F Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun riseAm F While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten foot cellAm F And innocent man in a living hellC F That's the story of the HurricaneC F But it won't be over till they clear him nameDm C And give him back the time he's doneDm C Put in a prison cell but one time he could've beenEm Am F C G Am F Am F The champion of the world
Hurricane
Bob Dylan
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