Pistol shots ring out in the bar room night
Enter Patty Valintine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
She 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 have been th champion of the world
Three bodies lying there does Patty see
And another man name Bello movin around mysteriously
" I didn't do it " he says and he throws up his hands
" I was only robbing 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 there red lights
Flashing in the hot New Jersey night
Meanwhile somewhere in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving around
The number one contender for the heavy weight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled them over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the the time before that
In Paterson that's just the way it go
If your black you might as well not show up on the street
Less you all just wanna draw the heat
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Aurthor Dextor Bradley were just down prowling around
He said " I saw two men runnin out,they looked like middle weights
They jumped in to a white car with out of state plates"
And Miss Patty Valintine just nodded her head
The cops said "wait a minute boys this ones not dead"
So they took him to the infirmary
And although the man could hardly see
He told them that he could identify the guilty man
Four in the morning and they hauled Rubin in
They took him to the hospital and brought him up stairs
The wounded man looked up through his one dying eye
Says"why you bring him in for? He ain't the guy
Yes here is the story of the hurricane
the man the authorities Came to blame
For something that he never done
Put in prison cell but one time
He could have been the champion of the world
Four months later the ghetto all in flame
Rubin's in South America fighting for his name
While Author Dexter Bradley still in the robbery game
And the cops are putting the screws to him looking for someone to blame
"Remember that murder that happened in the bar ?"
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
"Think it might have been that fighter that you saw runnin that night"
"Don't forget that you are white"
Aurthor Dextor 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 talking to your friend Bello
Now you don't want to go back to jail be a nice fellow
You'll be doing society a favor
That son of bitch is brave and getting braver
We want to put his ass in a stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
he ain't no gentleman Jim"
Rubin could take a man out with just nor punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
"it's my work"he'd say "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 the trail
But then they took him to the jail house
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
All 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 .A said he was the one who did the deed
And the all white jury agreed
Rubin Cartet was falsely tried
The crime was murder one and guess who testified
Bello and Bradley and they both badly lied
And the newspapers 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 a land
Where justice is a game
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
Are free to drink martinis and watch the son rise
While Rubin sit like Buddha in a ten foot cell
An innocent man in a living hell
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 have been the champion of the world