Hurricane Lyrics - Swing Set - Ani Difranco

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 somethin' that he never done 

Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been 

The champion of the world 

Three bodies lyin' there, does Patty see? 

And another man named Bello, movin' around mysteriously 

"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands 

"I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand 

I saw them leavin'" 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 flashin' 

In the hot New Jersey night 

Meanwhile, far away in another part of town 

Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' 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 that's just the way things go 

If you're black you might as well not show up on the street 

'Less you wanna draw the heat 

Alfred Bello had a partner and he had a rap for the cops 

Him and Arthur Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around 

He said, "I saw two men runnin' 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 one's 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 

Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in 

Take him to the hospital and they bring him upstairs 

The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye 

Says, "Wha'd you bring him in here for? He ain't the guy" 

Yes, here's the story of the hurricane 

The man the authorities came to blame 

For somethin' that he never done 

Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been 

The champion of the world 

Four months later, the ghettos are in flame 

Rubin's in South America, fightin' for his name 

While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game 

And the cops are puttin' the screws to him 

Lookin' for somebody to blame 

"Remember that murder that happened in a bar?" 

"Remember you said you saw the getaway car?" 

"You think you'd like to play ball with the law?" 

"Think it might-a been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night?" 

"Don't forget that you are white" 

Arthur Dexter Bradley said, "I'm really not sure" 

Cops said, "A poor boy like you could use a break 

We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello 

Now you don't wanta have to go back to jail, be a nice fellow 

You'll be doin' society a favor 

That sonofabitch is brave and gettin' braver 

We want to put his ass in stir 

We want to pin this triple murder on him 

He ain't no gentleman Jim" 

Rubin could take a man out with just one punch 

But he never did like to talk about it all that much 

It's my work, he'd say, and I do it for pay 

And when it's over I'd 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 

All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance 

The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance 

The judge made Rubin's 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 

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 fool's hand? 

To see him obviously framed 

Couldn't help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land 

Where justice is a game 

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 

That's the story of the hurricane 

But it won't be over till they clear his name 

And give him back the time he's done 

Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been 

The champion of the world