| [00:07.69] | Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night |
| [00:18.70] | Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall. |
| [00:22.91] | She sees the bartender in a pool of blood, |
| [00:26.95] | Cries out, "My God, they killed them all!" |
| [00:30.55] | Here comes the story of the Hurricane, |
| [00:34.36] | The man the authorities came to blame |
| [00:37.92] | For somethin' that he never done. |
| [00:41.67] | Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [00:45.19] | The champion of the world. |
| [00:49.53] | |
| [00:50.62] | Three bodies lyin' there does Patty see |
| [01:01.63] | And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously. |
| [01:03.60] | "I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands |
| [01:08.88] | "I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand. |
| [01:11.28] | I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops |
| [01:15.80] | "One of us had better call up the cops." |
| [01:18.85] | And so Patty calls the cops |
| [01:21.75] | And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin' |
| [01:27.64] | In the hot New Jersey night. |
| [01:32.85] | |
| [01:34.14] | Meanwhile, far away in another part of town |
| [01:43.13] | Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around. |
| [01:46.81] | Number one contender for the middleweight crown |
| [01:50.30] | Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down |
| [01:54.32] | When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road |
| [01:58.29] | Just like the time before and the time before that. |
| [02:01.13] | In Paterson that's just the way things go. |
| [02:04.76] | If you're black you might as well not show up on the street |
| [02:09.24] | 'Less you wanna draw the heat. |
| [02:18.05] | Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops. |
| [02:24.38] | Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around |
| [02:28.05] | He said, "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like |
| [02:30.55] | middleweights |
| [02:32.12] | They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates." |
| [02:35.53] | And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head. |
| [02:38.41] | Cop said, "Wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead" |
| [02:42.54] | So they took him to the infirmary |
| [02:45.80] | And though this man could hardly see |
| [02:49.45] | They told him that he could identify the guilty men. |
| [03:01.86] | Fourn the mornin' and they haul Rubin in, |
| [03:05.38] | Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs. |
| [03:07.17] | The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye |
| [03:12.44] | Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!" |
| [03:16.56] | Yes, here's the story of the Hurricane, |
| [03:19.86] | The man the authorities came to blame |
| [03:23.51] | For somethin' that he never done. |
| [03:27.40] | Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [03:31.38] | The champion of the world. |
| [03:43.30] | Four months later, the ghettos are in flame, |
| [03:46.62] | Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name |
| [03:50.13] | While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game |
| [03:53.54] | And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody |
| [03:56.00] | to blame. |
| [03:57.64] | "Remember that murder that happened in a bar?" |
| [04:00.93] | "Remember you said you saw the getaway car?" |
| [04:04.46] | "You think you'd like to play ball with the law?" |
| [04:08.13] | "Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that |
| [04:09.93] | night?" |
| [04:12.23] | "Don't forget that you are white." |
| [04:18.56] | Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure." |
| [04:27.27] | Cops said, " A poor boy like you could use a break |
| [04:29.75] | We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend |
| [04:33.25] | Bello |
| [04:34.58] | Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow. |
| [04:38.80] | You'll be doin' society a favor. |
| [04:41.98] | That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver. |
| [04:45.50] | We want to put his ass in stir |
| [04:47.02] | We want to pin this triple murder on him |
| [04:53.32] | He ain't no Gentleman Jim." |
| [04:59.05] | Rubin could take a man out with just one punch |
| [05:08.00] | But he never did like to talk about it all that much. |
| [05:11.11] | It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay |
| [05:15.20] | And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way |
| [05:19.07] | Up to some paradise |
| [05:22.20] | Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice |
| [05:25.58] | And ride a horse along a trail. |
| [05:28.87] | |
| [05:29.53] | But then they took him to the jailhouse |
| [05:32.93] | Where they try to turn a man into a mouse. |
| [05:42.02] | |
| [05:43.14] | All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance |
| [05:48.73] | The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance. |
| [05:52.17] | The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums |
| [05:55.73] | To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum |
| [05:59.74] | And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger. |
| [06:02.93] | No one doubted that he pulled the trigger. |
| [06:06.58] | And though they could not produce the gun, |
| [06:10.38] | The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed |
| [06:14.45] | And the all-white jury agreed. |
| [06:26.09] | Rubin Carter was falsely tried. |
| [06:29.78] | The crime was murder "one," guess who testified? |
| [06:32.10] | Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied |
| [06:36.90] | And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride. |
| [06:40.67] | How can the life of such a man |
| [06:43.73] | Be in the palm of some fool's hand? |
| [06:47.59] | To see him obviously framed |
| [06:51.30] | Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land |
| [06:55.85] | Where justice is a game. |
| [07:05.97] | Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties |
| [07:10.19] | Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise |
| [07:13.85] | While Rubin sits like Buddha in a ten-foot cell |
| [07:17.39] | An innocent man in a living hell. |
| [07:21.36] | Yes, that's the story of the Hurricane, |
| [07:24.65] | But it won't be over till they clear his name |
| [07:28.08] | And give him back the time he's done. |
| [07:31.38] | Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [07:35.98] | The champion of the world. |
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