| [00:01.83] |
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night |
| [00:20.20] |
Enter patty valentine from the upper hall. |
| [00:23.84] |
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood, |
| [00:27.85] |
Cries out, "my god, they killed them all!" |
| [00:31.50] |
Here comes the story of the hurricane, |
| [00:35.01] |
The man the authorities came to blame |
| [00:38.48] |
For somethin' that he never done. |
| [00:42.47] |
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [00:46.11] |
The champion of the world. |
| [00:52.43] |
|
| [00:59.10] |
Three bodies lyin' there does patty see |
| [01:02.41] |
And another man named bello, movin' around mysteriously. |
| [01:05.93] |
"i didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands |
| [01:09.81] |
"i was only robbin' the register, i hope you understand. |
| [01:11.34] |
I saw them leavin'," he says, and he stops |
| [01:15.67] |
"one of us had better call up the cops." |
| [01:17.19] |
And so patty calls the cops |
| [01:24.48] |
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights flashin' |
| [01:27.88] |
In the hot new jersey night. |
| [01:32.56] |
|
| [01:40.84] |
Meanwhile, far away in another part of town |
| [01:44.17] |
Rubin carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around. |
| [01:47.64] |
Number one contender for the middleweight crown |
| [01:51.03] |
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down |
| [01:55.04] |
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road |
| [01:58.58] |
Just like the time before and the time before that. |
| [02:02.27] |
In paterson that's just the way things go. |
| [02:05.24] |
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street |
| [02:10.10] |
'less you wanna draw the heat. |
| [02:12.85] |
|
| [02:21.69] |
Alfred bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops. |
| [02:24.83] |
Him and arthur dexter bradley were just out prowlin' around |
| [02:28.53] |
He said, "i saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights |
| [02:32.28] |
They jumped into a white car with out-of-state plates." |
| [02:36.25] |
And miss patty valentine just nodded her head. |
| [02:39.97] |
Cop said, "wait a minute, boys, this one's not dead" |
| [02:42.70] |
So they took him to the infirmary |
| [02:46.37] |
And though this man could hardly see |
| [02:49.22] |
They told him that he could identify the guilty men. |
| [03:03.02] |
Four in the mornin' and they haul rubin in, |
| [03:06.13] |
Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs. |
| [03:09.40] |
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye |
| [03:10.66] |
|
| [03:13.11] |
Says, "wha'd you bring him in here for? he ain't the guy!" |
| [03:17.06] |
Yes, here's the story of the hurricane, |
| [03:20.66] |
The man the authorities came to blame |
| [03:24.49] |
For somethin' that he never done. |
| [03:28.05] |
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [03:32.03] |
The champion of the world. |
| [03:33.46] |
|
| [03:44.17] |
Four months later, the ghettos are in flame, |
| [03:47.40] |
Rubin's in south america, fightin' for his name |
| [03:50.80] |
While arthur dexter bradley's still in the robbery game |
| [03:54.31] |
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him, lookin' for somebody to blame. |
| [03:58.04] |
"remember that murder that happened in a bar?" |
| [04:01.29] |
"remember you said you saw the getaway car?" |
| [04:05.25] |
"you think you'd like to play ball with the law?" |
| [04:09.42] |
"think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?" |
| [04:13.12] |
"don't forget that you are white." |
| [04:14.44] |
|
| [04:25.24] |
Arthur dexter bradley said, "i'm really not sure." |
| [04:30.66] |
Cops said, "a poor boy like you could use a break |
| [04:31.25] |
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend bello |
| [04:35.60] |
Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow. |
| [04:39.94] |
You'll be doin' society a favor. |
| [04:42.18] |
That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver. |
| [04:45.56] |
We want to put his ass in stir |
| [04:47.93] |
We want to pin this triple murder on him |
| [04:51.04] |
He ain't no gentleman jim." |
| [04:57.66] |
|
| [05:06.05] |
Rubin could take a man out with just one punch |
| [05:08.97] |
But he never did like to talk about it all that much. |
| [05:12.25] |
It's my work, he'd say, and i do it for pay |
| [05:15.29] |
And when it's over i'd just as soon go on my way |
| [05:19.30] |
Up to some paradise |
| [05:23.08] |
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice |
| [05:26.80] |
And ride a horse along a trail. |
| [05:30.44] |
But then they took him to the jailhouse |
| [05:32.84] |
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse. |
| [05:46.15] |
All of rubin's cards were marked in advance |
| [05:49.40] |
|
| [05:49.49] |
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance. |
| [05:49.91] |
|
| [05:53.50] |
The judge made rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums |
| [05:56.55] |
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum |
| [06:00.38] |
And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger. |
| [06:03.46] |
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger. |
| [06:09.87] |
And though they could not produce the gun, |
| [06:11.56] |
The d.a. said he was the one who did the deed |
| [06:15.28] |
And the all-white jury agreed. |
| [06:17.36] |
|
| [06:27.46] |
Rubin carter was falsely tried. |
| [06:30.68] |
The crime was murder "one," guess who testified? |
| [06:34.02] |
Bello and bradley and they both baldly lied |
| [06:37.51] |
And the newspapers, they all went along for the ride. |
| [06:41.17] |
How can the life of such a man |
| [06:44.78] |
Be in the palm of some fool's hand? |
| [06:48.28] |
To see him obviously framed |
| [06:52.18] |
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land |
| [06:56.26] |
Where justice is a game. |
| [06:58.74] |
|
| [07:08.14] |
Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties |
| [07:11.14] |
Are free to drink martinis and watch the sun rise |
| [07:14.91] |
While rubin sits like buddha in a ten-foot cell |
| [07:18.05] |
An innocent man in a living hell. |
| [07:21.60] |
That's the story of the hurricane, |
| [07:27.89] |
But it won't be over till they clear his name |
| [07:30.86] |
And give him back the time he's done. |
| [07:34.82] |
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been |
| [07:37.58] |
The champion of the world. |
