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Hurricane

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Bob Dylan

Version
studio
published by
rafah
Tone
A-
A+
Slide
A -> La
Video
Chords
	 
[Intro]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Pistol shots ring out in the bar room night
Am F
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
Am F
She sees the bartender in a pool of blood
Am F
She cries out "My God they killed them all"
C F
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 Em
Put in a prison cell but one time
Am F C G
He could have been the champion of the world
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Three bodies lying there does Patty see
Am F
And another man named Bello movin' around mysteriously
Am F
"I didn't do it" he says and he throws up his hands
Am F
"I was only robbing the register, I hope you understand
C F
I saw them leaving" he says and he stops
C F
One of us had better call up the cops
Dm C
And so Patty calls the cops
Dm C Em
And they arrive on the scene with their red lights
Am F C G
Flashing on the hot New Jersey night
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Meanwhile somewhere in another part of town
Am F
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are driving around
Am F
The number one contender for the middleweight crown
Am F
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
C F
When a cop pulled them over to the side of the road
C F
Just like the time before and the time before that
Dm C
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]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops
Am F
Him and Arthur Dextor Bradley were just down prowling around
Am F
He said "I saw two men runnin' out, they looked like middleweights
Am F
They jumped in to a white car with out of state plates"
C F
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
C F
The cops said "Wait a minute boys, this one's not dead"
Dm C
So they took him to the infirmary
Dm C
And although the man could hardly see
Em Am F C G
He told them that he could identify the guilty man
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Four in the morning and they hauled Rubin in
Am F
They took him to the hospital and brought him upstairs
Am F
The wounded man looked up through his one dying eye
Am F
Says "Why you bring him in for? He ain't the guy
C F
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]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Four months later the ghetto all in flame
Am F
Rubin's in South America fighting for his name
Am F
While Author Dexter Bradley still in the robbery game
Am F
And the cops are putting the screws to him looking for someone to blame
C F
"Remember that murder that happened in the bar?"
C F
"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?"
Dm C
"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?"
Dm C Em Am
"Think it might have been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night"
F C G
"Don't forget that you are white"
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Arthur Dextor Bradley said "I'm really not sure"
Am F
Cops said "A poor boy like you could use a break
Am F
We got you for the motel job and we're talking to your friend Bello
Am F
Now you don't want to go back to jail, be a nice fellow
C F
You'll be doing society a favor
C F
That son of bitch is brave and getting braver
Dm C
We want to put his ass in a stir
Dm C Em Am
We want to pin this triple murder on him
F C G
He ain't no gentleman Jim"
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
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's my work" he'd say "I do it for pay"
Am F
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way
C F
Up to some paradise
C F
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice
Dm C
And ride a horse along the 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
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
All Rubin'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's witnesses drunkards from the slums
Am F
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
C F
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
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
Am F
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
Am F
The crime was murder one and guess who testified
Am F
Bello and Bradley and they both badly lied
Am F
And the newspapers all went along for the ride
C F
How can the life of such a man
C F
Be in the palm of some fool's hand
Dm C
To see him obviously framed
Dm C Em Am
Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
F C G
Where justice is a game
[Instrumental]
Am F Am F
[Verse]
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 sit like Buddha in a ten foot cell
Am F
An innocent man in a living hell
C F
That's the story of the Hurricane
C F
But it won't be over 'til they clear his name
Dm C
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]
Am F Am F

Am F Am F