a F a F

a Pistol shots ring out in the barFroom night
a enter Patty Valentine from the Fupper hall
a She sees the bartender in a Fpool of blood
a Cries out "My God they killed Fthem all!"
CHere comes the story of the a Hurricane,
CThe man the authorities cama e to blame
d for something that he never Cdone
d Put in a prison cell but Cone tE7ime
he could have a been the Fchampion of the Cworld G 

a F a F

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 ya 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
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 middleweight crown
had no idea what kind of shit was about to go down
when a cop pulled him over on the side of the road
just like the time before and the time before that
in Paterson that's just the ways things go
If you're black you might as well not show up on the streets
Less you wanna draw the heat

Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just down 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 although this man could hardly see
he told 'em that he could identify the guilty man

Four in the morning and they haul Rubin in
They took him to the hospital and brought him upstairs
the wounded man looks up though his one dying eye
says "why'd you bring him here for? he ain't the guy!"
Yes, here 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've been
the champion of the world

Four months later the ghetto's 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 looking 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 have been that fighter that you saw running that night?"
"Don't forget that you are white"

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 talking to your friend Bello
Now you don't want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
You'll be doin' society a favor
That son of a bitch is brave and getting braver
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He ain't no Gentleman Jim"

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, 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 try to turn a man into a mouse

All of Rubin's card 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

Rubin Carter was falsely tried
the crime was murder "one", 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 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

Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise
while Rubin sits 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 till they clear his name
and give him back the time he's done
put in a prison cell but one time he could've been
the champion of the world