Chords
[Intro]
Am F Am F
Am F Am
F
[Verse 1]
AmPistol shots ring out in the baFrroom night
AmEnter Patty Valentine from the Fupper hall
Am She sees the bartender in a Fpool of blood
AmCries out, "My God, theFy killed them all!"
C Here comes the story of the FHurricane
C The man the authorities caFme to blame
Dm For something that he never Cdone
Dm Put in a prison cell, but Cone timeEm he coulda beeAmn The cham F
pion of the Cworld G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 2]
Am Three bodies lying there does FPatty see
And aAmnother man named Bello, moving arouFnd mysteriously
Am "I didn't do it," he says, and he Fthrows up his hands
"I was Amonly robbing the register, I Fhope you understand
C I saw them leaving," he saFys, and he stops
C "One of us had better caFll up the cops"
Dm And so Patty calls the Ccops
Dm And they arrive on the sceCne with theirEm red lights flaAmshing
In the Fhot New Jersey Cnight G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 3]
AmMeanwhile, far away in anoFther part of town
RubiAmn Carter and a couple of friends Fare driving around
AmNumber one contender for the Fmiddleweight crown
Had Amno idea what kinda shit Fwas about to go down
C When a cop pulled him over to the Fside of the road
C Just like the time before and the Ftime before that
In DmPaterson that's just the way thiCngs go
If Dmyou're black you might as well Cnot show Emup on the Amstreet Unless you F
want to draw Cthe heat G
[Verse 4]
Am F Am F AlAmfred Bello had a partner and he had a Frap for the cops
Him and AmArthur Dexter Bradley were just outF prowling around
He Amsaid, "I saw two men running out, they Flooked like middleweights
They Amjumped into a white car with Foutofstate plates"
C And Miss Patty Valentine just Fnodded her head
CCop said, "Wait a minute, boys, thiFs one's not dead"
So they Dmtook him to the infirmary C
Dm And though this man could hardly Csee
They Emtold him that he could iAmdentifyF the guilty Cmen G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 5]
Am Four in the morning and they Fhaul Rubin in
They Amtake him to the hospital and they Fbring him upstairs
The Amwounded man looks up through his oFne dying eye
Says, Am"Why did you bring him in here for? He Fis not the guy!"
C Yes, here's the story of the FHurricane
C The man the authorities caFme to blame
Dm For something that he never Cdone
Dm Put in a prison cell, but Cone timeEm he coulda Ambeen The cham F
pion of the Cworld G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 6]
Am Four months later, the Fghettos are in flame
RuAmbin's in South America, fighFting for his name
While AAmrthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robFbery game
And the Amcops are putting the screws to him, looking for Fsomebody to blame
C "Remember that murder that Fhappened in a bar?"
C"Remember you said you saw the Fgetaway car?"
"You Dmthink you'd like to play ball with Cthe law?"
Dm"Think it mighta been that fighter that you sawC runningEm that night?"
Am "Don't forgetF that you are Cwhite" G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 7]
AmArthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm Freally not sure"
AmCops said, "A poor boy like you could Fuse a break
We Amgot you for the motel job and we'reF talking to your friend Bello
AmNow you don't want to have to go back to jail, be Fa nice fellow
C You'll be doing sociFety a favor
C That sonofabitch is braFve and getting braver
Dm We want to put his ass in Cstir
Dm We want to pin this triple CmurderEm on him
Am He ain'tF no Gentleman CJim" G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 8]
AmRubin could take a man out with Fjust one punch
But he Amnever did like to talk about it all Fthat much
"It's my Amwork," he'd say, "and I Fdo it for pay
And Amwhen it's over I'd just as Fsoon go on my way"
C Up to some paFradise
C Where the trout streams flow and the Fair is nice
Dm And ride a horse along a Ctrail
Dm But then they took him to the Cjailhouse Em
Where they tryAm to turn a manF into aC mouse G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 9]
AmAll of Rubin's cards were maFrked in advance
The Amtrial was a pigcircus, he Fnever had a chance
The Amjudge made Rubin's witnesses drunFkards from the slums
To the Amwhite folks who watched he was a Frevolutionary bum
C And to the black folks he was just a Fcrazy nigger
C No one doubted that he Fpulled the trigger
DmAnd though they could not produce the Cgun
DmThe D.A. said he was the Cone whoEm did the deeAmd
And the Fallwhite jury agCreed G
[Bridge]
Am F Am F
[Verse 10]
Am Rubin Carter was faFlsely tried
The Amcrime was murder "one," guess Fwho testified?
Am Bello and Bradley and they Fboth baldly lied
And Amthe newspapers, they all went aFlong for the ride
C How can the life of suFch a man
C Be in the palm of soFme fool's hand?
Dm To see him obviously Cframed
Dm Couldn't help but make me feel aCshamed Emto live in a laAmnd
Where Fjustice is a gaCme G
[Verse 11]
Am F Am F Now Amall the criminals in their coaFts and their ties
Are Amfree to drink martinis and Fwatch the sun rise
While AmRubin sits like Buddha in a Ftenfoot cell
An Aminnocent man in a Fliving hell
C That's the story of the FHurricane
C But it won't be over till they Fclear his name
DmAnd give him back the time heC's done
Dm Put in a prison cell, buCt one timeEm he coulda Ambeen The cham F
pion of the Cworld. G
[Outro]
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
[(Fade out)]
Am F Am F