Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around
Songwriters: Bob Dylan, Jacques Levy
And the all-white jury agreed
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
Lookin' for somebody to blame
So they took him to the infirmary
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates
Says, "What'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy"
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him
Just like the time before and the time before that
Arthur Dexter, Bradley and Bello and they both lied
Pistol shots ring out on the barroom night
Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break
That's the story of the Hurricane
"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?
Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
And give him back the time he's done
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
The champion of the world
In Paterson that's just the way things go
They told him that he could identify the guilty men
And so patty calls the cops
And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
To see him obviously framed
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
'Less you wanna draw the heat
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
"I didn't do it," He says, and he throws up his hands
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
But then they took him to the jailhouse
You'll be doin' society a favor
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
Alfred Bello [Incomprehensible] had a rap for the cops
It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for the pay
An innocent man in a living hell
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance
For somethin' that he never done
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger
In the hot New Jersey night
He saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin'
Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
For somethin' that he never done
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
Him and Arthur Dexter bradley were just out prowlin' around
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
"One of us had better call up the cops"
Take him to the hospital and they bought him upstairs
I saw them leavin'" He says, and he stops
Think you'd like to play ball with the law?
And though this man could hardly see
The champion of the world
Publisher: RAM'S HORN MUSIC
Be in the palm of some fool's hand?
How can the life of such a man
And when it's over, I'd just as soon go on my way
The man the authorities came to blame
He ain't no gentleman Jim"
Cries out, "My God, they killed 'em all"
The man the authorities came to blame
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
Remember you said you saw the getaway car?
And though they could not produce the gun
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
That son-of-a-bitch is brave and gettin' braver
Enter Patty Valentine from the outer hall
And ride a horse along the trail
While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell
Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
Don't forget that you are white"
Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead"
We want to put his ass in stir
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame
Up to some paradise
The champion of the world
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
The crime was murder one and guess who testified?
To live in a land where justice is a game
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could've been
"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand"
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
But it won't be over till they clear his name
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
We want to pin this triple murder on him