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