Date: 09/12/2000

Subject of the Post: Comparing and Contrast Lyrics in Different Versions of the Song

robertandrews wrote:

Editor's note: There are some notable differences in the lyrics of the originally released version of Hurricance and the final version (the threat of a lawsuit by one of the principal characters in the song forced Dylan to change the lyrics). The author of this post discusses the relative merits of the song of the two versions. The alternate version of the song is included below for your enjoyment.

The first thing that strikes me is the sound of the word. "Register" is good alliteration with robbin', has a nice rhythm, it's 3 syllables & "bodies" is 2. "Bodies" is an ugly word to sing at the end of a line (though somewhat in keeping with the graphic nature of the song).

Bello (not Bradley) is the guy who says, "I was only robbin' the register, I hope you understand." Stealing from a register is much worse than stealing from the dead. Bello's pleading innocent to murder, so he chooses the least offence. "Only robbing the bodies" is almost like saying, "I was only raping the woman, I didn't plan on killing her." This would be Dylan putting words in Bello's mouth to show his own disgust. It would also destroy some of our 'who dunnit?" curiosity. "Robbin' the bodies" is awful.

If Patty Valentine said, "they killed my love," we'd envision only a single dead person -- & it's nice to know that more than one man is dead from the beginning. It goes better with the following, "three bodies lyin' there does Patty see." That's probably why Dylan chose it.

However, I prefer "killed my love," even though we sacrifice logic for emotion. It's easily rhymed with "from the floor above." "Killed them ALL" still doesn't give us three people, & "killed my LOVE" is dramatic.

I'm not too familiar with Dylan bootlegs, but it wouldn't surprise me if he prefers to sing the "killed my love" line.

[Editor's note: Here's the earlier version of the song]

 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 something that he never done.
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The champion of the world.

Three bodies lying there does Patty see
> And another man Arthur Dexter Bradley moving mysteriously
"I didn't do it," he says, and he throws up his hands
> "I was only robbin' the bodies, 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 the cops moved them 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.

> Arthur Dexter Bradley laid his rap for the cops
> "I just came in this place tonight to see what I could steal"
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 brought 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 you saw 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 you did with Alfred 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 the 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?
> Arthur Dexter Bradley and he badly [badly?] 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.

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