[Intro]
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[Verse]
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Pistol shots ring out in the bar room night
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Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
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She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
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She cries out "My God they killed them all"
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Here comes the story of the Hurricane 
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The man the authorities came to blame
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For something that he never done
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Put in a prison cell but one time
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He could have been the champion of the world
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Three bodies lying there does Patty see
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And another man named Bello movin' around mysteriously
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"I didn't do it" he says and he throws up his hands
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"I was only robbing the register, I hope you understand 
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I saw them leaving" he says and he stops
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One of us had better call up the cops
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And so Patty calls the cops 
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And they arrive on the scene with their red lights 
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Flashing on the hot New Jersey night
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Meanwhile somewhere in another part of town
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Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving around
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The number one contender for the middleweight crown 
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Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
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When a cop pulled them over to the side of the road 
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Just like the time before and the time before that
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In Paterson that's just the way things go
          Dm                          C       Em     Am 
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
         F              C     G 
Less you wanna draw the heat
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
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Him and Arthur Dextor Bradley were just down prowling around
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He said "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
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They jumped in to a white car with out of state plates"
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And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
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The cops said "Wait a minute boys, this one's not dead"
       Dm                      C 
So they took him to the infirmary 
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And although the man could hardly see
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He told them that he could identify the guilty man
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Four in the morning and they hauled Rubin in
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They took him to the hospital and brought him upstairs
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The wounded man looked up through his one dying eye
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Says "Why you bring him in for? He ain't the guy
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Yes, here is the story of the Hurricane 
C                       F 
The man the authorities came to blame
Dm                          C 
For something that he never done 
Dm                       C   Em 
Put in a prison cell but one time 
              Am       F               C      G 
He could have been the champion of the world
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Four months later the ghetto all in flame
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Rubin's in South America fighting for his name
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While Author Dexter Bradley still in the robbery game
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And the cops are putting the screws to him looking for someone to blame
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"Remember that murder that happened in the bar?"
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"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
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"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
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"Think it might have been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night"
       F                   C       G 
"Don't forget that you are white" 
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Arthur Dextor Bradley said "I'm really not sure"
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Cops said "A poor boy like you could use a break
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We got you for the motel job and we're talking to your friend Bello
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Now you don't want to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
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You'll be doing society a favor
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That son of bitch is brave and getting braver
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We want to put his ass in a stir
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We want to pin this triple murder on him
   F                  C     G 
He ain't no gentleman Jim"
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Rubin could take a man out with just one punch
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But he never did like to talk about it all that much
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"It's my work" he'd say "I do it for pay"
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And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
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Up to some paradise
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Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
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And ride a horse along the trail
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But then they took him to the jailhouse 
           Am            F          C      G 
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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All Rubin's cards were marked in advance
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The trial was a pig circus, he never had a chance
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The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
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To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
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And to the black folks he was just a crazy nigger
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No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
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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
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Rubin Carter was falsely tried 
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The crime was murder one and guess who testified
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Bello and Bradley and they both badly lied
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And the newspapers all went along for the ride
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How can the life of such a man 
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Be in the palm of some fool's hand
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To see him obviously framed
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Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
      F            C      G 
Where justice is a game
[Instrumental]
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[Verse]
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Now all the criminals in their coats and their ties
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Are free to drink Martinis and watch the sun rise
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While Rubin sit like Buddha in a ten foot cell
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An innocent man in a living hell
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That's the story of the Hurricane 
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But it won't be over 'til they clear his name
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And give him back the time he's done
Dm                       C   Em 
Put in a prison cell but one time 
              Am       F               C     G 
He could have been the champion of the world
[Outro]
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