Lyrics:

[Verse 1]
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
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-a been
The champion of the world

[Verse 2]
Three bodies lying there does Patty see
And another man named Bello, moving around mysteriously
I didnt 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 their red lights flashing
In the hot New Jersey night

[Verse 3]
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving around
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that
In Paterson thats just the way things go
If youre black you might as well not show up on the street
Unless you want to draw the heat
[Verse 4]
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowling around
He said, I saw two men running 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 ones not dead
So they took him to the infirmary
And though this man could hardly see
They told him that he could identify the guilty men

[Verse 5]
Four in the morning and they haul Rubin in
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs
The wounded man looks up through his one dying eye
Says, Why did you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy!
Yes, heres 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-a been
The champion of the world

[Verse 6]
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame
Rubins in South America, fighting for his name
While Arthur Dexter Bradleys still in the robbery game
And the cops are putting 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 youd like to play ball with the law?
Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw running that night?
Dont forget that you are white
[Verse 7]
Arthur Dexter Bradley said, Im really not sure
Cops said, A poor boy like you could use a break
We got you for the motel job and were talking to your friend Bello
Now you dont want to have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
Youll be doing society a favor
That sonofabitch is brave and getting braver
We want to put his ass in stir
We want to pin this triple murder on him
He aint no Gentleman Jim

[Verse 8]
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
But he never did like to talk about it all that much
'Its my work,' hed say, 'and I do it for pay
And when its over Id 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 jailhouse
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse

[Verse 9]
All of Rubins cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance
The judge made Rubins 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
[Verse 10]
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
The crime was murder one, guess who testified?
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
And the newspapers, they 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
Couldnt help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game

[Verse 11]
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
Thats the story of the Hurricane
But it wont be over till they clear his name
And give him back the time hes done
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world