Hurricane lyrics by Bob Dylan
HURRICANEBob Dylan (MTA1169 � Key:Am - Tempo:124 - Time:8.21) www.hittrax.com.au
INTRO: 4 BARS
V1 Pistol shots ring out in the bar room 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
V2 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' on a hot New Jersey night
V3 Meanwhile far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around
The 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 streets
'less you wanna draw the heat
V4 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 he could identify the guilty men
V5 Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in
They took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye, says...
"Whaddya bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!"
Here is 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
V6 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."
V7 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...
You don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow."
"You'll be doin' society a favour
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
V8 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 jail house
Where they tried to turn a man into a mouse
V9 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
V10 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 fools hand?
To see him obviously framed
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
V11 Now all of the criminals in their coats and 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
Here starts 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
VIOLIN + HARMONICA SOLO (8 BARS)
OUTRO -----
Here is the story of the Hurr � i � cane...
