[Verse 1]
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 something that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one
Time he could-a been, the Champion of the World
[Verse 2]
Three bodies lyin' there, does Patty see
And another man named Bello, moving 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 leaving,” 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!
[Verse 3]
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!
[Verse 4]
Alfred Bello had a partner, and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowling around
He said, “I saw two men running out, they looked like Middleweights
Jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates”
And Ms. Patty Valentine just nodded her head
Cops 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 he could identify the guilty men
[Verse 5]
Four-in-the-mornin' and they haul Rubin in
They take him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Say, “Why did you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!”
Here’s the story of The Hurricane
The man the authorities came to blame
For something that he never done
Put in a prison cell, but one
Time he could-a been, the Champion of the World!
[Verse 6]
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame
Rubin’s in South America, fighting for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradley’s still in the robbery game
And the cops are putting the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame
“Remember that murder that-cha happened in a bar?”
“Remember you said you saw the getaway car?”
“Y'think you’d like to play ball with the law?”
“Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw running that night?“
“Don’t forget that you are white!”
[Verse 7]
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, “I’m really not sure”
The cops said, “A poor boy like you could use a break”
”We got you for the motel job, and we’re talking to your friend Bello”
”Now, you don’t want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow”
”You’ll be doing society a favor”
”That son-of-a-bitch is brave and gettin' braver”
”We wanna' put his ass in stir”
”We wanna' pin this triple murder, on him”
He ain’t no Gentleman Jim!”
[Verse 8]
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, "n' I do it for pay“
“And when it’s over, just as soon go on my way“
“Up'a to some paradise“
“Where the trout streams flow, n' the air is nice“
“And ride a horse along the trail“
But then they took him to the Jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
[Verse 9]
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 nigga
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
[Verse 10]
Brother Carter was falsely tried
The crime was murder “one”, guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied!
N' 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!
[Verse 11]
Now all the criminals in their coats n' their ties
Are free to drink Martini's, and watch the sun rise
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell
Yes, that’s the story of The Hurricane
But it won’t be over 'til 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!