Hurricane Chords by Bob Dylan

[Start]

[Intro]
Am F Am F Am F Am F
■  ■ ■  ■ ■  ■ ■  ■


[Verse]
Am                           F            
Pistol shots ring out in the barroom night
Am                             F         
Enter Patty Valentine from the upper hall
Am                        F            
She sees a bartender in a pool of blood
Am               F                C  
Cries out my God they killed them all


[Chorus]
               Am       F            
Here comes the story of the Hurricane
C                       F            
The man the authorities came to blame
Dm                          C   
For somethin' that he never done
Dm                          C                  Am  
■  Put in a prison cell but one time he coulda been
C   F               C    
The champion of the world
G7 G Am F Am Fmaj7 F
■  ■ ■  ■ ■  ■     ■


[Verse]
Am                            F        
Three bodies lyin' 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        C         
I was only robbin' the register I hope you understand
           F          F7               
I saw them leavin' he says and he stops
                     F7              
One of us had better call up the cops


[Chorus]
Dm                     C   
And so Patty calls the cops
Dm                     C    
And they arrive on the scene
Em                    Am            F              C    
With their red lights flashin' in a hot New Jersey night
G Am F Am F
■ ■  ■ ■  ■
Am                    F                   
Meanwhile far away in another part of town
Am                           F                         
Rubin Carter and a couple of friends are drivin' around
Am                           F                 
Number one contender for the middleweight crown
Am                          F                   
Had no idea what kinda shit was about to go down
                                  F7              
When a cop pulled him over to the side of the road
C7            F7                              C   
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       
'less you want to draw the heat
G7 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 Dexter Bradley were just out prowlin' around
Am                                     F                        
He said I saw two men runnin' out they looked like middleweights
Am                           F          C7    
Jumped into a white car with outofstate plates


[Chorus]
    F                         F7             
And Miss Patty Valentine just nodded her head
C7              F7                             
Cop said Wait a minute boys this one's not dead
        Dm              C        
So they took him to the infirmary
Dm                               C  
And though this man could hardly see
Em                     Am       F          C  
They told him he could identify the guilty men
G Am F Am F Am
■ ■  ■ ■  ■ ■ 


[Verse]
                             F            
Four in the mornin' and they haul Rubin in
Am                                     F                   
They took him to the hospital and they brought him upstairs
    Am                               F            
The wounded man looks up through his one dyin' eye
Am                                  F               
Say Why'd you bring him in here for He ain't the guy


[Chorus]
                    F            
Here's the story of the Hurricane
C                       F       C    
The man the authorities came to blame
Dm                          C   
For somethin' that he never done
Dm                       C   Em             Am  
Put in a prison cell but one time he coulda been
    F               C    
The champion of the world
G G7 Am F Am F
■ ■  ■  ■ ■  ■


[Verse]
Am                    F                   
Four months later the ghettos are in flame
Am                       F                    
Rubin's in South America fightin' for his name
Am                                         F           
While Arthur Dexter Bradley's still in the robbery game
        Am                                         F                     C
And the cops are puttin' the screws to him lookin' for somebody to blame ■


[Chorus]
                          F             C  
Remember that murder that happened in a bar
                              C          
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 mighta been that fighter that you saw runnin' that night
      F                   C    
Don't forget that you are white
G Am F Am F Am
■ ■  ■ ■  ■ ■ 


[Verse]
                               F              
Arthur Dexter Bradley said I'm really not sure
Am                                      F             
The cops said A poor boy like you could use this break
Am                               F                                 
We got you for the motel job and we're talkin' to your friend Bello
Am                                        F                C7
You don't want to have to go back to jail be a nice fellow ■ 


[Chorus]
                F7      C7     
You'll be doin' society a favor
                       F                       
That son of a bitch is brave and gettin' braver
Dm                     C      
We want to put his ass in stir
Dm                         C      Em Am 
We want to pin this triple murder on him
F           C            
He ain't no Gentleman Jim
G7 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 and I do it for pay
Am                             F                 C
And when it's over I'd just as soon go on my way ■
           F7      
Up to some paradise
C7                               F7      C      
Where the trout streams flow and the air is nice


[Chorus]
Dm                          C    
■  And ride a horse along a trail
Dm                            C        
But then they took him to the jailhouse
                         F        C G     Am
Where they try to turn a man into a mouse ■ 


[Verse]
                          F                
All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
    Am                       F                 
The trial was a pigcircus 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
                                    F7            
And for the black folks he was just a crazy nigger
                       F7                
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger
Dm                                    C  
And though they could not produce the gun
Dm                     C   Em          Am  
The DA said he was the one who did the deed
                      C     
And the allwhite jury agreed
G G7 C F Am F Am
■ ■  ■ ■ ■  ■ ■ 


[Chorus]
                 F            
Rubin Carter was falsely tried
Am                       F                  
The crime was murder one guess who testified
Am                         F               
Bello and Bradley and they both baldly lied
Am                               F     F7          
And the newspapers they all went along for the ride
C7                  F7        
How can the life of such a man
C7 F7                             
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   
Where justice is a game
G 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 sits like Buddha in a tenfoot cell
Am                   F          
An innocent man in a living hell


[Chorus]
C                       F            
Yes that's the story of the Hurricane
                               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      Am         
Put in a prison cell but one time he coulda been
    F               C    
The champion of the world


[Inst]
G Am F Am A7 F Am F
■ ■  ■ ■  ■  ■ ■  ■


[Solo]
C F C F Dm C Dm C
■ ■ ■ ■ ■  ■ ■  ■
Em Am F C G Am F Am
■  ■  ■ ■ ■ ■  ■ ■ 


[Outro]
F Am F Am F C F
■ ■  ■ ■  ■ ■ ■


[End]